Flood threat over, Juneau residents return home
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City officials say the flood threat has ended and credit barriers with preventing more damage from the Mendenhall Glacier outburst
Each summer in the mountains above Juneau, Alaska, meltwater from the massive Mendenhall Glacier flows into mountain lakes and into the Mendenhall River, which runs through town.
Glacial outburst floods aren't a new phenomenon in Alaska, but climate change is scrambling the geography of risk.
The all clear has been given and residents have been allowed to return to their homes in Alaska’s capital of Juneau after a glacial lake outburst sent debris-filled water rushing down the Mendenhall River on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
For the third consecutive year, a wave of water gushed out of an Alaskan glacial lake, threatening the state’s capital city of Juneau. But, flood barriers installed by the city managed to prevent disaster from unfolding in the picturesque port town despite record-breaking water levels this week.