Glacial dam outburst in Alaska’s capital erodes riverbanks, destroys at least 2 buildings

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In the capital city of Alaska, violent waters eroded riverbanks, leading to the destruction of at least two buildings, and causing damage to others after a weekend of flooding resulting from a glacial lake’s outburst. By Monday, the authorities reported that the waters had subsided.

The Mendenhall River’s water levels began to drop on Sunday and were back to normal by Monday, but the city warned that the river banks were still not stable. Many onlookers gathered to capture images and videos of the swollen Mendenhall Lake on Sunday, although fewer were present on Monday. One home was left in a precarious position on the eroded riverbank as murky water surged past.

Juneau’s deputy city manager, Robert Barr, stated that two homes were a total loss and a third was partially ruined. However, no injuries or fatalities have been reported. Additionally, two condo buildings, comprising six units each, and three houses were designated as condemned, although some might be salvageable. Barr expressed hope that with substantial repairs, including stabilizing the banks, some of these properties might be saved. Yet, he also noted that it’s not certain whether they could be restored.

Besides the aforementioned, other structures have suffered various degrees of damage. At the time of the report, the city did not have an estimated cost of the damages or the exact quantity of water released into the river.

Such floods are a result of glaciers melting and releasing vast volumes of water into adjacent lakes. A study released earlier in the year found that such floods pose risks to approximately 15 million people across the globe, with more than half of them residing in India, Pakistan, Peru, and China.

This specific flood came from Suicide Basin, a part of the Mendenhall Glacier, which has caused intermittent flooding along Mendenhall Lake and River since 2011. According to the National Weather Service, the water level on Saturday night surpassed the previous record flood stage set in 2016.

Eran Hood, a professor of environmental science at the University of Alaska Southeast, explained that the water in the basin originates from sources like rain, snowmelt, and the melting of the nearby Suicide Glacier. Nicole Ferrin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, emphasized that while such outburst floods are not rare, this particular one was extraordinarily severe, with the resulting erosion from the swift-moving water being unparalleled.

Social media footage from late Saturday night revealed a home on the brink of collapse into the river. The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually, continues to shrink in the face of global warming.

Note: The story also includes a correction concerning the number of properties condemned.

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