Originally published Barriers Prevent Severe Flooding in Alaska Capital After Glacier Outburst on by https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/climate-security/barriers-prevent-severe-flooding-in-alaska-capital-after-glacier-outburst/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=barriers-prevent-severe-flooding-in-alaska-capital-after-glacier-outburst at Homeland Security
Newly installed river barriers held back record levels of flooding and prevented widespread damage in Alaska’s capital city on Wednesday, after an ice dam at the nearby Mendenhall Glacier released a huge surge of rainwater and snowmelt, officials said.
Water pooled on several streets and in some yards in Juneau after the Mendenhall River crested earlier in the day, and high water was expected to persist for hours. But many residents in the flood zone had evacuated before peak water levels, and there were no damage reports similar to the past two summers, when about 300 homes were flooded.
The temporary barriers “really have protected our community”, Juneau city manager Katie Koester told a news conference. “If it weren’t for them, we would have hundreds and hundreds of flooded homes.”
Read the rest of the story at The Guardian.
Originally published Barriers Prevent Severe Flooding in Alaska Capital After Glacier Outburst on by https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/climate-security/barriers-prevent-severe-flooding-in-alaska-capital-after-glacier-outburst/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=barriers-prevent-severe-flooding-in-alaska-capital-after-glacier-outburst at Homeland Security
Originally published Homeland Security