The gravel and dirt dam formed by advancing Hubbard Glacier sprang a leak early Wednesday morning, releasing a torrent of water and ice from 70-square-mile Russell Lake at a rate that instantly made the cascading channel one of Alaska's fastest-moving and most dangerous rivers.

The U.S. Coast Guard broadcast an advisory Wednesday afternoon warning cruise ships and mariners to stay miles away from the glacier's face in Disenchantment Bay near Yakutat. The National Weather Service followed suit:

"An extreme volume of water along with large chunks of ice and debris are pouring into the bay," the weather service said. "Currents and tidal conditions in the vicinity ... are expected to be extremely dangerous."

http://www.adn.com/front/story/1599318p-1716615c.html

The huge lake pent up by Hubbard Glacier's advance to the face of Gilbert Point emptied at breakneck speed when a gravelly moraine gave way to the pressure of the water. Seventy-square-mile Russell Lake crested at 61 feet above sea level at 3 a.m. Wednesday. Some 34 hours later, it had drained to 16 feet above sea level.

The release also relieved the pressure -- at least for now -- on Yakutat, a community of about 800 with an economy that revolves around world-class steelhead and salmon fisheries on the Situk River.

Scientists say Hubbard Glacier is on a slow advance that will eventually seal off the channel that connects Russell Fiord to Disenchantment Bay. When that happens, water in the new lake will rise until it spills out the back end, into the Situk drainage, threatening the fisheries and Yakutat's main livelihood.

Fearing that was about to happen this year, city and borough officials had asked Gov. Tony Knowles for disaster assistance. City officials want help planning a more diversified economy and mapping the most likely routes for a Russell Lake flood, said city and borough manager Don Braun.

http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/1605418p-1722748c.html