MAT-SU — Linemen and emergency crews scrambled Thursday afternoon and into the night as high winds caused problems across the Valley.

Lorali Carter with the Matanuska Electric Association said Thursday afternoon that crews were busy putting up downed power lines.

“We have a handful of outages all over the service area due to the wind storms,” she said. “It’s mostly just debris blowing into the power lines.”

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman The windy conditions fill the air with dust blurring the setting sun as it dips below the horizon Thursday evening. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has issued an air quality warning for the Palmer area until 8 a.m. this morning or until the winds subside.

As of 4 p.m., she said, there had been 15 outages and there were 700 to 1,000 customers without power in pockets scattered across the utility’s service territory that stretches from Eagle River to Talkeetna.  

Over at the Mat-Su Borough, Deputy Director of Emergency Services Clint Vardeman said crews in Palmer and Wasilla were very busy. Mostly it was the same calls MEA responded to. At least one of the downed lines caused a minor grass fire.

“The last time I checked they were talking about gusts in the Wasilla area of about 36,” miles per hour, he said. “ I don’t know where they’re reading from, but it’s certainly not where I’m sitting.”

He said another call had to do with a natural gas smell that filled up a house after its power was turned back on.

“So far, knock on wood, everything has been relatively minor, but scary, for the person that sees it or that’s involved with it,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.