Live updates: Historic glacial flooding damages more than 100 Juneau homes then quickly recedes

This story has been updated with a new story.

JUNEAU — Local officials in Juneau say more than a hundred — and possibly hundreds — of homes and other dwellings were damaged Tuesday following an ice dam burst near the Mendenhall Glacier, sending billions of gallons of water into Mendenhall River Valley neighborhoods. The river crested at a record level of nearly 16 feet just after 3 a.m. Tuesday, a foot higher than disastrous flooding last year, prompting several dozen residents to seek emergency shelter. It’s not yet clear how many people were displaced by what officials are calling an unprecedented event.

Update: Assessing the damage

2:50 p.m.

Officials at the City and Borough of Juneau say staff are out in the field trying to determine how many homes have been damaged by flooding but say it’s more than 100 as well as hundreds of vehicles. There are tips for homeowners about flood recovery at the municipal website, according to deputy city manager Robert Barr. The United Way is also working to connect people who want to volunteer with residents who need assistance.

Officials are working on a larger cleanup project for disaster debris removal but in the interim, people with flood-damaged debris they can’t get to the landfill are encouraged to double-bag it and put it in the right-of-way for removal, Barr said.

Though the water came and went quickly, Juneau’s homes tend to come with crawlspaces that will still hold standing water and it’s likely people are dealing with soaked carpet, flooring and drywall along with smaller items, he said.

Local officials will also be helping connect flood-damaged residents with state individual assistance programs, Barr said.

“We know based on last year that for some people it won’t be enough, but it is a start,” he said.

Update: Floodwaters receded as quickly as they came

1:45 p.m.

The water came on fast and unexpectedly — and then disappeared.

By midday, houses that had been inundated were drying in the sun. The National Weather Service in Juneau said temperatures were expected to hit 75 degrees Tuesday, with the sunny weather expected to continue through Thursday.

Nico and Susan Bus, who live on Meander Way on the banks of the Mendenhall River, evacuated overnight. They returned Tuesday morning to find the ground floor of their house under six inches of water and ran a pump to empty water from the basement.

Friends and neighbors came over to help clean and pull up sodden carpet. Priceless family photographs and other mementos were sitting in the sun.

”Everybody’s just grabbing something and sending it out and letting it dry,” Nico Bus said. “And yeah, well, it’s good to have friends like that.”

Patrice Deasis has rented the ground floor of a house for over two years. She knew the river would flood, but she said she didn’t how much difference an extra 12 inches of water would make between last year and this. Around 4 a.m., Deasis said, she woke up and stepped out of her bed into a foot of water.

”I didn’t know what to do. I grabbed the pets. I had to put my cat in a backpack,” she said.

By that point, it was too late to evacuate.

”We couldn’t go anywhere, off the streets. Everywhere was flooded. Nobody could drive through. They had closed off the roads anyways,” Deasis said, busy cleaning and salvaging what she could Tuesday morning, though her electronic devices were destroyed.

”There’s nothing to do, really. Renters’ insurance doesn’t work either,” she said.

On nearby Long Run Drive, however, there was still a foot of standing water at midday. A damaged car sat stranded in the middle of the road.

Bryan Ryder said a car he was hoping to sell had been underwater. His garage had flooded, destroying a washing machine, dryer and heater. Ryder said he’s lived in the Mendenhall Valley for seven years, and had never seen water rise like this.

”We never thought we were in the flood zone,” he said. “So yeah, we don’t have flood insurance.”

Update: ‘Significant inundation in neighborhoods’

12:30 p.m.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly has approved a local emergency as officials described flooding far more widespread than expected, though with no reported injuries.

Floodwaters inundated hundreds of homes and vehicles before receding, they said.

“We anticipate the need for temporary and long term sheltering assistance; financial support to individuals and businesses; environmental cleanup support due to fuel oil spills; and resources (people, equipment, supplies, and trash disposal) for flooded structures,” according to a resolution supporting the declaration.

The local emergency declaration, approved unanimously, gives Juneau officials access to state and federal assistance.

There was “significant inundation in neighborhoods that were not anticipating inundation,” Juneau city manager Katie Koester said during the meeting, describing residents who expected they wouldn’t be impacted “and then had to leave in a big hurry.”

There have been no reports of homes falling in the river, Koester said.

Rescues included at least one person in a wheelchair, officials said. Power was restored by noon and most roads were passable, they said. Many residents were asking how to handle cleanup, several Assembly members said.

The river level had dropped to just over 9 feet by noon and was expected to drop below flood level this afternoon, officials said.

Original story:

JUNEAU — Officials in Juneau say over 100 homes are damaged following a glacial dam outburst that triggered unprecedented flooding along the Mendenhall River, prompting evacuations and water rescues.

The flooding peaked just after 3 a.m. Tuesday after the ice dam burst in a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier. Billions of gallons of water rushed downstream, raising the river to a record level of 15.99 feet, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau.

The release from Suicide Basin flooded homes and roads in the Mendenhall River Valley. The densely populated residential area, with several schools and numerous businesses and churches, is about 10 miles northwest of downtown Juneau.

The City and Borough of Juneau on Monday night issued an evacuation warning, officials said. The river’s flood levels crested nearly a foot higher than last year’s “disastrous flood of record,” according to an update Tuesday from state disaster officials.

Local officials reported water rescues and about 45 residents stayed overnight in an emergency shelter at Floyd Dryden Middle School, the update said.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a state disaster declaration on Tuesday, activating the state’s Public Assistance and Individual Assistance Disaster Recovery Program. The State Emergency Operations Center is deploying a division supervisor and operations specialist to Juneau to coordinate the state disaster response and directly support the city’s incident command. A city disaster declaration is expected to soon follow.

Deputy Juneau City Manager Robert Barr said no injuries were reported, but Juneau firefighters did assist with evacuations overnight.

As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Barr said it was unclear exactly how many homes had been damaged by the flooding but that number could potentially be in the hundreds.

“We don’t have a full understanding of that yet, the waters are still receding,” he said.

Mendenhall Valley residents living close to the river were told on Monday afternoon to evacuate or stay elsewhere overnight.

The Juneau Empire reported that the shelter was empty at 1:30 a.m. before roughly 30 people showed up within a couple of hours, many of whom had quickly fled the unexpected scale of the flooding. Barr said 43 residents stayed overnight at the shelter. He said many more residents sheltered elsewhere Monday night.

Photos posted on social media showed water up to the roofs of some houses and vehicles all but submerged.

The glacier dam release is known as a jökulhlaup, and has occurred annually in Juneau since 2011. Two condominium buildings were condemned last year by the same flooding phenomenon. Homes washed away as the riverbank rapidly eroded.

Juneau city officials said the floodwaters were expected to recede quickly on Tuesday.

The City and Borough of Juneau announced facility closures Tuesday including the Dimond Park Aquatic Center, the Dimond Park Field House and the Mendenhall Valley Public Library.

Riverside Drive on Tuesday was closed southbound from Stephen Richards Memorial Drive, officials said in a statment. “A number of side streets and roads in the vicinity of the river are currently closed; conditions will change as water rapidly recedes. Please respect all road closure signs and do not endanger yourself by attempting to drive through floodwaters. Roads will be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Officials asked residents to stay away from flooded areas to allow responders and other crews to work.

Alyssa Fischer, who works at the Juneau Police Department, said she didn’t expect she would need to evacuate. But the rapidly rising water changed her plans to stay at home.

”As soon as I started seeing the water rise to about half my tire level, I was like ‘OK, we’re calling it’ — because it happened so fast. I just didn’t know what to expect anymore,” Fischer said. She and her two children evacuated to the emergency shelter at the middle school, along with a pet duck and a goose.

The American Red Cross had personnel assisting evacuees.

”They had coffee, they had food, hot chocolate. And they brought in breakfast. They were super awesome,” she said about the city’s shelter.

Returning home Tuesday morning, Fischer said the water had come into her garage but not her house. There was some drywall damage and furniture in boxes damaged by the water, she said. But she counted herself “super fortunate” to just have some standing water inside and not worse, she said.

A neighbor on a nearby street who also needed to evacuate had a far more harrowing night, Fischer said.

“They woke up in the middle of the night with water pouring in and they barely had enough time to get their kids out,” she said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Sean Maguire reported from Juneau and Zaz Hollander from Palmer.