Volcano Watch: Municipality of Anchorage preps for possible Mount Spurr eruption

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said city officials are closely watching the mounting activity at Mt. Spurr volcano which scientists said Wednesday is likely to erupt in the weeks or months ahead.

“We are actively monitoring and have been monitoring,” LaFrance said Thursday. “We’ve got an office of emergency management that falls under the Municipal Manager and so that tracking and monitoring and connecting with other agencies is on-going.”

Kari Wiederkehr, with the city’s Office of Emergency Management, confirmed the municipality has been meeting since December as part of a Southcentral Volcano Working Group that includes the National Weather Service, The Alaska Volcano Observatory, along with the Kenai and Mat-Su Boroughs.

Wiederkehr said the city is also participating in a Public Information Working Group that includes the State and the Federal Division of Emergency Management.

“To ensure that we are all just putting out the same talking points and that we are all really following what the scientists are saying. Making sure that we watch them and how worried they are, what their thoughts are, listening to their expertise on the volcano and incorporating that into all of our communications,” Wiederkehr said.

In the next two weeks, Wiederkehr said they plan to meet with Municipal Departments as well as various agencies in town that are considered “community lifelines” like hospitals, the public health department, and public transportation.

“To talk about what the impacts will be to them, what their actions are in response to that, and what kind of support they need in the event of an eruption,” she said.

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