Officials stand overnight watch as residents ready for evacuation after anxious and wet day of flood preparations
- Ellie Ruel
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Suicide Basin still overtopping, but no break, as of 7 a.m. Tuesday; overflow and rain cause Mendenhall River to reach minor flood status, but water level expected to drop
By Ellie Ruel and Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Residents in flood zones spent an anxious night and weather officials spent an all-nighter monitoring Suicide Basin after an intense and rainy Monday that saw emergency preparations mobilize in full force.
A 7 a.m. Tuesday update at the official Suicide Basin monitoring website notes there is still no indication of a basin release more than one full day after its capacity was reached. The website notes "the basin is over topping and slowly eroding the overflow channel which is lowering water levels slowly," and that in previous years it took up to six days after the basin was full before a glacial lake outburst flood occurred.
"The Mendenhall River is elevated and is currently in Minor Flood Stage due to long duration moderate to heavy rainfall from the previous 3 days," the website notes. "The Mendenhall River is expected to crest through Tuesday morning, before falling out of Flood Stage through Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday as drier conditions move in."
Full prepatory and other information from the city and other agencies is available at the Juneau Glacial Flood Dashboard.
The height of the basin was at 1,348 feet at 7 a.m., compared to 1,358 feet at 10 p.m. Monday. The basin reached a peak height of 1,380 feet last year and just above 1,400 feet in 2023.
Both Mendenhall Lake and the Mendenhall River had elevated water levels due to the basin overflow as well as heavy rain, with the river reaching 9.35 feet at 6 a.m. Tuesday, compared to about five feet at 6 a.m. one week ago on Aug. 5, according to the National Weather Service.
Government agencies, businesses and residents spent Monday protecting their properties — and helping protect others’ properties — and making evacuation plans for when Suicide Basin’s ice dam breaks.
In the Vintage Business Park area, for instance, Goldelt Inc. and the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce announced their offices will be closed for the remainder of the week. Arrangements for residents of the nearby Riverview Senior Living complex who may need emergency shelter have been made at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, with cots provided by the American Red Cross of Juneau, according to Pastor Mike Galbraith.
The Juneau School District, which begins classes Thursday, announced all schools will be closed if any in the flood zone are forced to close. A Juneau Board of Education meeting scheduled Tuesday evening at Thunder Mountain Middle School was postponed one week to Aug. 19 and moved downtown to Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.
CBJ community emergency response team members distributed flood information flyers to houses within the flood inundation zone, which has been defined as any property that is predicted to flood if the Mendenhall River reaches 17 feet and a two-mile levee of HESCO barriers installed earlier this year fail.
Even people living on the very edge of the 17-foot inundation zone were preparing for the worst. Jeorghette Wales lives in the 18-foot flood zone, but grabbed sandbags just in case.
“It’s scary,” Wales said. “I never thought we would need it, so hopefully we still don't need it.”
Sierra McRoberts lives just inside the evacuation zone and wants to be prepared this year after last year’s event came as a surprise.
“Last year we woke up to it coming down Riverside. So we weren't ready,” McRoberts said. “When you have kids, it’s not something to play around with. I'd rather go sit somewhere in the car than have the kids sit there and watch the water come up the street.”
She’s planning to sandbag her garage and possibly front door. The family already has totes packed and is ready to evacuate if needed, so the bags are a last-minute addition to their flood plan. McRoberts said while she has been monitoring the flood dashboard, she wasn’t expecting the flyer on her door this afternoon.
“That was a little bit of a shock,” she said.
Even with this year’s more visualized tracking, residents both inside and out of the flood zones seemed surprised when the first emergency alert went out.
“I think people are finally realizing getting off work today,” McRoberts said. “It’s human nature to wait until the last minute.”
Over the course of the afternoon, rigs of inflatable barriers, plastic sheeting, sandbags, and plywood have sprung up around Mendenhall Valley houses. Designs varied, but protecting garages and doors was a common priority. Neighborhoods that weren’t flooded last year but might be in danger this year have also gotten in on the action with layers of bags and tarps.
While the basin hasn’t undergone its subglacial release that triggered the catastrophic flooding during the last two summers yet, a steady stream of river viewers have made their way to the bridges over Mendenhall River on the Back Loop Road and Glacier Highway.
Murmurs of both curiosity and worry ran through riverside crowds as they looked down over the turbulent river waters that neared, but didn’t quite reach, the nine-foot flood stage.
Aaron Jacobs, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service Juneau, said during a press briefing Monday morning that the rain should stop by Tuesday morning, and the river and lake levels should drop if the basin doesn’t release. Last year the river level reached its peak roughly 40 hours after the basin released.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com. Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
