Alaska landslide damages 3 homes in Juneau, 'squishes' pickup truck

A landslide triggered by record rainfall significantly damaged three homes, prompted the evacuation of abouta dozen residents and caused power outages in downtown Juneau,Alaska's capital city.

Geological assessment teams determined Tuesday that favourableweather has returned the threat level to pre-slide levels. Thecity's public works department was preparing to begin removingdebris, city spokesperson Meredith Thatcher said.

Of the three homes, one was completely destroyed as it came downthe mountain and slammed into a second home, which was significantlydamaged but remains standing, she said. The extent of damage to thethird home was not yet known.

Residents will be allowed to return to their homes at their owndiscretion. "If you feel comfortable going home, you can go home,"Thatcher said.

The local power company was expected to restore service after thedebris has been removed to the point where crews need to work.

Damage from the Monday evening landslide was confined to the oneresidential street above the downtown business district in thesoutheast Alaska mountain community of about 32,000 residents. Therewere no reported injuries, city officials said.

'My truck is squished'

Evan Hartung was eating dinner in his home when he heard arumbling sound over the TV, he told the Juneau Empire.

He justmanaged to escape the house before the evergreen tree came swooshingdown onto the stairs along the outside of his home, damaging them.

It then knocked his pickup on its side before coming to rest,partially on top of the vehicle.

"My truck is squished," he said.

Sarah Wallace and her partner live next door to Hartung. Theyalso heard the noise and looked out their window to see Hartung"running outside without any shoes," she told the Empire. Thatprompted them to also quickly exit their home.

About a dozen people either those whose homes were damaged orothers who decided to self-evacuate stayed at a shelter that wasset up by the American Red Cross at a downtown fire station, Thatcher told The Associated Press.

Highest daily rainfall in 30 years

Residents in Juneau, located in the Tongass National Forest, thenation's largest, are accustomed to a persistent light rain falling,but not deluges like they experienced Monday.

"We are a rain forest, so we're supposed to get rain," saidNational Weather Service forecaster Kimberly Vaughan in Juneau.

"These were record rainfall amounts and some of them broke theprevious records by nearly 2 inches."

Lena Point, located about 24 kilometresnorthwest ofdowntown Juneau, recorded 7.72 centimetresof rain,the highest daily amount in about 30 years of record keeping there.

The previous record for precipitation in a 24-hour period was 2.90 centimetresin 2017.

Other daily rainfall records were recorded at the Juneau weatherforecast office, with 6.58 centimetresbeating theprevious record of 2.84 centimetres in 2009, and 5.64 centimetresat the airport, surpassing the record of5.13 centimetresset in 1936.

The rains also caused the Mendenhall River to rise in Juneau,prompting some flooding advisories.

Flood warning in Skagway

In Skagway, about 160.93 kilometresnorth of Juneau,there's a flood warning in effect for the Taiya River. The river wasat 5.14 metres early Tuesday, just above flooding stagebut was expected to drop throughout the day.

Persistent rain has caused some flooding and led officials toclose a campground. There also have been ongoing landslides sinceone closed the cruise ship dock last summer.

A large slide over the weekend dropped several thousand cubicyards of debris adjacent to that dock, city manager Brad Ryan said.

However, there's been no reports of homes damaged or peopleinjured.

"I think we're feeling like we've weathered it pretty good," hesaid.

Landslides are common in Alaska. Last May, a slide brought downdozens of full-grown evergreen trees and debris, temporarily closinga road in the coastal community of Seward.

In 2020, two people were killed in the southeast Alaska communityof Haines when a slide as wide as two football fields slammed into aneighborhood.

The only route through Denali National Park andPreserve is closed and expected to remain so through 2024 after thePretty Rocks landslide covered 91 metersof the road.Officials are proposing construction of a 121.9-metrebridge spanning the landslide area.