Officials begin to assess damage following glacial dam outburst flooding in Alaska’s capital city

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Officials in Alaska’s capital city estimate more than 100 homes were damaged by flooding following a glacial dam outburst that has become a perennial hazard for neighborhoods near Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier. But the work tallying the impacts is just getting underway. The National Weather Service says the river crested early Tuesday at nearly 16 feet. That is above the crest a year earlier when raging waters devoured large sections of riverbank and sent at least one home crashing into the water. A city official says this year’s flooding reached farther into the Mendenhall Valley but says there appeared to have been less erosion this time. Some residents reinforced the riverbank near their houses after last year’s flooding.