Glacial Dam Outburst Floods Alaska's Capital, Damages Homes

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Aug. 8, 2024, at 12:38 p.m.


(Reuters) - More than 100 homes in Alaska's capital Juneau have been damaged by a glacial dam outburst north of the city, an increasingly frequent phenomenon exacerbated by climate change.

The flooding began on Monday night after water spilled out from the glacial lake at Suicide Basin, which annually fills with rainwater and meltwater and is usually dammed by the retreating Mendenhall Glacier. If enough water fills the basin, it can burst through or overtop the ice damming it in.

The overflow crested at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, with the Mendenhall River at 15.99 feet, the National Weather Service said. The river's levels had dropped back to normal by Wednesday.

Local authorities had warned residents near the river to take precautions and opened a local school as a shelter. City officials said no injuries have been reported. The flood came almost exactly a year after a record-breaking glacial dam outburst at Suicide Basin caused similar flooding. In 2023, the Mendenhall River crested at 14.82 feet, the National Weather Service said.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-08-08/glacial-dam-outburst-floods-alaskas-capital-damages-homes

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. We're going to need some mirrors orbiting the equator.

[maxsolomon]

2. It flooded the Mendenhall Valley area

The Capitol itself is 9 miles away in Juneau proper, which isn't on this river.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The city of Juneau is reporting the flooding of the river

and looking at a map, the city is situated right along the river (with the Capitol building set back from that - the "#1" on the map below).



ETA - City/Borough flooding update - https://juneau.org/newsroom-item/mendenhall-river-flooding-update-new-resources-and-assistance-available

[maxsolomon]

4. The flooding is on the Mendenhall River below the Mendenhall Glacier.

9 miles northwest. The neighborhood is called "Mendenhall Valley", which is below Mendenhall Lake.

The Gastineau Channel isn't a river. It's salt water between the mainland and Douglas Island.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. It's still considered part of the city/borough of Juneau

[maxsolomon]

6. Hence "Juneau proper".

Maybe I should have said "Historic Juneau", or "Downtown".

[BumRushDaShow]

7. My sister lives in a "township" here in PA that is just outside of Philly...

It consists of 4 adjoining "towns" that have a consolidated school district, police, volunteer fire department (with multiple firehouses), trash collection, streets/public works, parks and recs, municipal services, etc. Her town only has about 5000 residents but the entire township has about 20,000, and is run by a Township Manager (elected position). So I've seen those types of setups (we have boroughs here too, which are usually smaller than cities but bigger than some townships)!