9 AM Update:
The National Weather Service has cancelled the flood watch for the Kenai River from Moose River to Big Eddy.
It was determined around 9 am that the ice jam near Bing’s Landing had finished releasing and water in the lower Kenai River is receding.
Original Post:
An urgent flood watch was issued for the Kenai River around 8 pm last night; the National Weather Service says no reports of damage have been received.
Eddie Zingone explained what caused the high water levels.
Zingone: “Basically there’s an ice jam on the river near Bing’s landing and it began to release, sending some water down stream there and what’s happening is the water was near bankfull in the Funny River area and the question was whether there’s more water trapped and could cause some continued rises basically overnight into this morning.”
The watch is from Moose River to Big Eddy.
The National Weather Service has said the most likely scenario is that the river may just barely touch bankfull before dropping sometime this morning.
We will continue to update this story throughout the day.