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Valley residents have similar flood outlook, different preparation process
- Ellie Ruel
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Prefilled sandbags will be available for pickup through Monday
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
One of the more physically demanding parts of flood prep for Mendenhall Valley residents was eased by a sandbag-filling machine and drive-through loading system at Dimond Park on Saturday. A flood of a similar magnitude to last year’s is expected sometime in early August, according to the National Weather Service.
Over a dozen U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff and community volunteers formed an assembly line to load prefilled sandbags into cars as they trickled through.
“(Last year) somebody would come and they would be here for two hours, loading, filling, and loading up sandbags,” said City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Programs Manager Ryan O’Shaughnessy. “Whereas now, we'll see, this car is gonna be here for about three minutes. It’s so much more efficient for members of the public when they come through here and get sandbags.”
Evacuation maps released Thursday show that advisories will be given to about 1,900 Mendenhall Valley homes, compared to about 1,000 last year. The larger evacuation area along the Mendenhall River includes homes where water hasn’t reached during record flooding in each of the past three years.
“We wanted to include areas that may not be directly inundated, but where access or travel, including by first responders, may be compromised,” O’Shaughnessy explained during a press briefing Thursday. “So, in other words, if we wouldn't be able to get to you during a breach scenario, or if you may not be able to get to safety, we are recommending that you evacuate.”
Residents can sign up for emergency alerts to receive texts and calls about flood risk.
Craig Millard, a community volunteer, met cars and tossed bags from a pallet into cars. He heard about the event online and wanted to help since he knows people affected by the floods.
“I think about all the people that I know in the areas that get hit really hard,” Millard said. “Some people that I grew up with, their basements flood, and I'm lucky I live in Douglas. Just trying to help where needed.”
He was joined by Zach Burkhart, who lives right outside the flood zone. Burkhart was filling in for his father, who he said helped fill sandbags by hand last year.
“My dad always told me, when people need help, you just help,” Burkhart said.
Next to the filling operation, two examples of how to build a sandbag wall were built — one in a “pyramid” style and one single-stacked wall.
“The pyramid, this is probably for higher velocity areas and holds back a lot more water,” said Daryl Downing, an emergency management specialist with USACE. “The single stack doesn't take as many sandbags, that’s not for higher velocity.”
The Army Corps recommends that residents work in pairs to fill bags halfway to two-thirds full with sand and secure the filled bags by folding over the tops rather than tying them, so they lie more uniformly. It was also advised to place sandbags at least a few feet from the property.
“If it's three feet or more away, you have at least that little buffer if there is water that does get behind it,” Downing said.
Residents said that while they’d rather be spending their time elsewhere, the machine and extra help sped up the process.
“Last year we spent hours, multiple days filling sandbags,” said Devin Styers. “This is much faster with this automatic thing.”
He and his wife Brook Styers live on a higher section of View Drive. He said sandbags kept water out of their house during last year’s record-breaking glacial lake outburst flood, so they’re planning to deploy them again this year. Given current forecasts, they’re “hoping for the best.” If the basin releases all at once like the last three years, scientists expect a similar volume as 2025.
The street’s only option for flood mitigation is a federal buyout program sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Eighteen homes fall beyond the protection of the HESCO levee system, according to the city and Army Corps. Some residents who have experienced repetitive severe flooding have taken personal preparation beyond sandbags, such as constructing berms and home elevation.
After a flood information panel hosted by KTOO on June 30, USACE hydrologist Mike Records explained why the earthen berm constructed across the river from View Drive is not viable for the neighborhood due to topography. View Drive is lower in elevation and has a porous bank, as well as little room for barriers.
Records said that while water doesn’t reach the berm until a flood reaches 60,000 cubic feet per second, View Drive is flooded at around 30,000 cfs.
“If you have some seepage on the east bank, that seepage doesn't have the same impact as it has on View Drive, View Drive is lower,” Records said. “The modeled level where the water starts (to) overtop the road on the east side is about 60,000 cfs. So, what that means is you can still have some seepage under the berm and you're still going to have a significant improvement in flood risk reduction.”
David Morris also lives on View Drive, and said the long-term solution of tapping the basin through Bullard Mountain should have been implemented by now. Some residents, citing bureaucratic stagnation, are supportive of allowing mining companies to expedite the project.
“They need to do the right thing to fix it and drill the hole,” Morris said. “Then we wouldn't be doing all this mess right now because it would have been done.”
Even if a public-private partnership is entered into, a long-term solution could still take years. A June 29 meeting between Hecla Greens Creek and USACE went well, according to Brian Erickson, the mining company’s vice president of operations. He said four USACE officials received a tour of the mine and operations, with similar trips to Kensington Mine Coeur Alaska Inc. planned this fall.
“Putting a tunnel through the mountain is not complicated. We do it every day in the borough. I think that's important for folks to know, but it's going to take a while,” Erickson said in an interview. “There's no solution in a year or even two, like it's still several years out if we got started today and there weren't significant permitting hurdles to get this done.”
Morris is stockpiling sandbags to place around his house. He said he isn’t planning on evacuating this year.
“I’m going to wrap my house in plastic, because it will flood up to two feet,” he said. “Then I’m going to put sandbags around, two feet up from the bottom of the plastic so it won’t go under.”
The city is strongly urging evacuation, with a shelter to be stood up at Floyd Dryden again this year by the American Red Cross of Alaska.
Sandra Edwardson lives on Killewich Drive, and while she said she was nervous since the barriers weren’t built to withstand a 90,000 cfs flood, she’s not more or less nervous than last year.
“I think I know what to expect this year,” Edwardson said.
Dave Ringle attended the open house portion to learn more about the barriers, since he lives downriver and was one of the last houses to see HESCO construction. He said he wasn’t picking up sandbags since there were other people who needed them more, but water came within five feet of his house last year.
“You're playing a measured game,” Ringle said. “There are so many more people in need, and so many more people who are seriously affected by it. Employees have their house destroyed. Or have five feet of water in their house. When you're spending all your time trying to figure out your living situation on top of your working situation, that’s absolutely not easy.”
Filled and unfilled sandbags will be available for pickup at Dimond Park Field House through Monday, and shovels are available to fill bags from the sand pile. There are also sandbagging events this Saturday and the Saturday after from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the same location.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
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