Evacuation orders have been issued in a town in southern Alaska.
One person has already been killed and several injured. There are also damaged homes and infrastructure.
Areas Without Power
Some areas are still without power after the landslide, which, according to the Mayor, is the biggest he has ever seen.
A shelter has been set up at the local high school for those evacuated or whose homes are uninhabitable.
Emergency Services en route
Alaska’s governor, Mike Dunleavy, has declared a state of emergency for the area.
Personnel from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Response, as well as from the Transportation Department are expected to travel to the town on Monday 26th August.
Second Site Identified
A second site has been identified as a high risk for further landslide activity.
This may be triggered by the first landslide, or by further heavy rain. This is why the areas at risk have now been evacuated. Emergency crews are standing by.
Governor Dunleavy Response
Governor Dunleavy said in a statement that “My thoughts and prayers are with residents of Ketchikan tonight.”
Meanwhile, City Mayor Keffir and Borough Mayor Rodney Dial issued a joint statement that said “As we work through this, please keep the affected families in your prayers and know we will do everything we can to recover from this event as quickly as possible and help those in need. We sincerely appreciate the first responders, medical personnel, volunteers, businesses and others offering assistance.”
Toppled Trees
A lot of the damage to homes and people was caused by toppled trees and power poles which were carried along with the soil and crashed into a row of houses.
Multiple roads are closed around the evacuated area and so traffic delays are likely this Monday.
City Hall Closed
In addition to the road closures, the City Hall offices will be closed on Monday.
KPU customer service will also be closed this Monday as Ketchikan city recovers from this blow and braces itself for what may come next.
A Region-Wide Issue
This landslide is devastating to the local community.
But it is part of a wider pattern of increasing requency and severity of landslides in that part of Alaska.
November 2023
One of the most deadly incidencies were the landslides in November 2023.
These occurred in the small fishing community of Wrangell, only 100 miles up the coast from Ketchikan. The first one killed six people.
Heavy Rain
The Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys investigated the cause of the Wrangell landslides.
It found that heavy rain which had saturated the soil was behind the landslides. As for Ketchikan today, Mayor Kiffer said, “There is clearly a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand with the support of our state geologist.”
