The people of Nome, Alaska, can do nothing but wait. A hurricane-force storm in November pounded the small city of 3,600, preventing a key fuel delivery. Now an icebreaker and fuel tanker are moving painstakingly slowly through the frozen Bering Sea on an emergency fuel run.
November's monster storm was the strongest to hit western Alaska in 40 years. It tore through the area with 89-mph winds, ripping off roofs, forcing area evacuations and knocking out power. The storm also prevented Nome from getting fuel delivered by barge before the winter ice closed in.
There's no way to deliver fuel by land, and flying it in would be prohibitively expensive, causing gas prices to hit $9 a gallon when residents already pay about $6 a gallon.
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The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy and the Russian tanker Renda, carrying 1.3 million gallons of fuel, set out for Nome several days ago. Nome has just enough fuel to last until March, but the delivery needs to happen before winter conditions worsen.
Shawn Pomrenke works on the crew of a gold dredge called The Christine Rose from May through October out of Nome. "I'm trying to get the zipper down on my jacket, but it's frozen," he told me.
Pomrenke and his crewmates will be featured on the new Discovery Channel show Bering Sea Gold. "It's been 20 below for I forget how many days straight," he said.
Residents have enough heating oil to keep their houses warm, but not having enough gas for vehicles would be a problem, Pomrenke said. He remains optimistic that the fuel will arrive soon, though. "I have confidence in 'em," he said. "I hope they make it. Otherwise it's going to make life out here really miserable."
When the ships do reach Nome, it will be the first time fuel has been delivered to a western Alaska community during winter, the Associated Press reported.
Although the ships set out in open water, they quickly encountered the Bering Sea's notorious ice pack. Thicker ice chunks forced the icebreaker to circle back and slice the tanker free several times. Early this week the ships tackled ice more than 2.5 feet thick.
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Nome isn't the only Alaskan town grappling with winter. Since mid-December, Cordova has received 18 feet of snow. That's feet, not inches. It was so much that the town had to declare an emergency. Snowbanks there are currently towering at 8 feet, Cordova mayor James Kallander told NPR.
Meanwhile, the icebreaker and tanker are still en route. They were originally expected to arrive in Nome's harbor on Monday, but slow progress caused the Coast Guard to revise its estimate. Now they could off-load in Nome as early as Thursday. Everything rests on thinner ice.
Image: The Russian tanker Renda follows the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy through the Bering Sea. (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard).
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