Mail and Food Deliveries in Alaska Halted by New Volcanic Eruptions

Christmas mail deliveries to and from Alaska have been halted by a series of volcanic eruptions that also grounded planes delivering food to remote Alaska towns, the U.S. Postal Service said Monday.

Redoubt Volcano, which is 110 miles southwest of Anchorage, rumbled and coughed steam and ash for hours before heaving another giant mushroom-shaped plume of ash 6 miles high in its continuing eruption, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

Before the 5-day-long eruption turned violent again, thousands of stranded travelers had hoped a break in the ash clouds would last long enough for planes to fly so they could enjoy a less disruptive Christmas vacation.

The volcano already has wreaked havoc on holiday travel plans and tons of holiday mail have piled up in Anchorage and Seattle.

Volcanic ash can cause engine failure--which it did Friday when ash knocked out all four engines in a KLM Royal Dutch Airline jumbo jetliner that plunged 13,000 feet in 12 minutes before the engines were restarted--so airlines have been cautious about resuming grounded flights.

Monday’s explosions and ash plumes were reported by pilots who took off during a lull in volcanic activity and were already airborne, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Groceries, which are shipped on mail planes to scores of bush villages reachable only by air, were piled up in warehouses and the Postal Service on Monday declined to accept more to keep undelivered food from spoiling, spokeswoman Nancy Cain Schmitt said.

No food shortages have been reported by communities. Schmitt said food deliveries have not been delayed as long by this eruption as they were during Alaska’s record cold spell last winter.

But she said that a large number of foodstuff, including perishable products, were stockpiled in four airline warehouses waiting to get out.