<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/13/alaskas-juneau-glacier-flood-record-climate>
"Newly installed river barriers held back record levels of flooding and
prevented widespread damage in Alaska’s capital city on Wednesday, after an ice
dam at the nearby Mendenhall Glacier released a huge surge of rainwater and
snowmelt, officials said.
Water pooled on several streets and in some yards in Juneau after the
Mendenhall River crested earlier in the day, and high water was expected to
persist for hours. But many residents in the flood zone had evacuated before
peak water levels, and there were no damage reports similar to the past two
summers, when about 300 homes were flooded.
The temporary barriers “really have protected our community”, Juneau city
manager Katie Koester told a news conference. “If it weren’t for them, we would
have hundreds and hundreds of flooded homes.”
On Tuesday morning, authorities confirmed that water had started escaping the
ice dam, with flooding expected into Wednesday. Some Juneau residents in the
flood zone had already evacuated as officials intensified their warnings on
Tuesday, saying: “Don’t wait, Evacuate TONIGHT.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Juneau said in an X post late on
Tuesday that local hydrologists had adjusted their Mendenhall flooding
forecast, anticipating that the river would crest at over 16ft on Wednesday
morning.
Nicole Ferrin, with the NWS, said during a briefing on Tuesday that the flood
warning was issued after “a lot of analysis” but the calculations were
complicated by rainfall causing significant rising of the lake and river and
confirmed that a sub-glacial release had occurred.
“This will be a new record based on all of the information we have,” Ferrin
said, according to the Juneau Empire.
City officials responded to concerns from property owners this year by working
with state, federal and tribal entities to install a temporary levee along
roughly 2.5 miles (4km) of riverbank in an attempt to prevent widespread
flooding. The 10,000 “Hesco” barriers are essentially giant, reinforced
sandbags intended to protect more than 460 properties, said emergency manager
Ryan O’Shaughnessy.
Some water did seep into yards through drains that had been installed under the
barriers. In other spots, trees floating down the river struck and damaged the
barriers, officials said. But the fortified wall largely held."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
