East-central Alaska had record floods near Fairbanks following extensive rains of August 8-20, 1967. Precipitation during this period totaled as much as 10 inches, which is close to the average annual precipitation for this area. The most extensive flooding occurred in the White Mountains northeast of Fairbanks and along the major streams draining those mountains. Some of the major streams flooded were the Salcha, Chena, Chatanika, Tolovana, and lower Tanana Rivers, and Birch Creek west of Circle. Peak discharges on some streams in the flood area were from two to four times the probable 50-year flood. The peak discharge of 74,400 cubic feet per second of the Chena River at Fairbanks, from 1,980 square miles of drainage area, was 2.6 times the 50-year flood. The rise of groundwater levels in the Tanana River flood plain to the land surface during the flood caused foundation failures and prevented drainage of subsurface structures. Above-normal groundwater levels existed until the middle of September. Total flood damage was estimated in excess of $85 million. Six lives were reported lost, and about 12,000 persons were evacuated during the flood. This report has been prepared to furnish hydrologic data for development planning. Included are discussions of antecedent streamflow, meteorology of the storm, descriptions of floods, flood damage, flood frequency, groundwater conditions, and stages and discharges of major streams for August 1967. Al A2 FLOODS OF 1967 IN THE UNITED STATES the people in the flooded area are reported. Presented in the report are data in maps, tables, and graphs. Both the data and the datacollection methods are given. The data include comprehensive hydrologic information that should be useful to planners and designers as well as geographers, economists, educators, and others interested in floods. The floods described in this report occurred on streams in the Yukon River basin between the Alaskan villages of Eagle on the east and Ruby on the west (pi. 1). General location of the 200,000 square miles of the map area is shown on the index map on plate 1. The Yukon River and its major tributaries, the Porcupine, Chandalar, and Tanana Rivers, drain the area from east to west between the Alaska Range on the south and the Brooks Range on the north. Most of the area is uninhabited. Nenana, Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base, and Fort Greely, all located along the Tanana River, are the principal communities and have a total population of about 50,000. Scattered along the main rivers are another 2,000 people in small villages. Farming, homesteading, trapping, and gold mining are carried on in the area. Rainstorms, which began August 8 in the Fairbanks area and continued through August 20, produced heavy precipitation on August 12 and 13 and caused the floods described in this report. Record rainfall was measured at many locations in the area. The storms followed a short generally dry spell during which streams had about seasonal-normal flows. The heavy rainfall over more than 40,000 squa...
