Residents in Alaska's capital city prepare for possible glacial flooding

Residents and officials in Alaska’s capital city prepared Friday for the possibility of glacial flooding that in past years has swept away houses, swamped several hundred homes and eroded the river fed by the popular Mendenhall Glacier.

The state, federal, city and tribal officials who would run an incident command center during any flooding held a briefing to outline steps and to issue pleas to the public to be prepared.

The threat of so-called glacier outburst flooding has become an annual concern in parts of Juneau since 2011. The Mendenhall Glacier — a thinning, retreating glacier that is a major tourist attraction in southeast Alaska — acts as a dam for a basin that fills each spring and summer with rainwater and snowmelt. The basin itself was left behind when a smaller, nearby glacier retreated.

When the water in the basin creates enough pressure, it forces its way under or around the ice dam created by the Mendenhall Glacier, entering Mendenhall Lake and eventually the Mendenhall River.

The water level in the basin as of Friday stood at 1,353 feet (412 meters) and continues to rise, said Nicole Ferrin with the National Weather Service. It’s just 15 feet (1.5 meters) from topping the ice dam.

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-glacial-outburst-flooding-mendenall-adda278e6e9e1ec0f9bdcd778cf528d9

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