Joaqlin Estus
ICT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and a regional housing authority have activated emergency operations to respond to a flood that hit a Juneau neighborhood. The Mendenhall River swelled 15 feet above its normal high, flooding more than a hundred Juneau homes, and hundreds of vehicles.

The flood was caused after a glacial dam on the Mendenhall Glacier released billions of gallons of water from a lake that had formed on the glacier. The Mendenhall River rose over a period of several hours, and crested at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The Anchorage Daily News reports the glacier dam release is known as a jökulhlaup, and has occurred annually in Juneau since 2011. Last year two condominium buildings were condemned after the same flooding phenomenon eroded the riverbank and undermined structures.

Council President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson, who is Tlingit and Haida, told ICT the tribe is working in partnership with the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority to respond to Tuesday’s flooding. Peterson said at least a hundred and perhaps as many as 500 tribal citizens were affected by the flooding.

The response by the tribe and housing authority has been swift and robust, according to Peterson. The tribe activated its emergency operations center at 7:30 a.m. “So we could quickly deploy. I mean, we had the center in place. We’ve had several meetings this morning. We’ve got teams deployed, we’ve got leads for each of the teams working on different areas.”

“I would say jointly, we have probably in the neighborhood of 50 (people) with crew and staff. We have a lot of people taking part. We’ve been buying supplies, sump pumps, fans. We’re going to be driving around (handing out) garbage bags, and then we’re arranging for garbage pickup with our own crews. So the housing authority has a lot of that capacity and partnered with Tlingit and Haida central council. We really have a pretty strong bench on this one.”

He went on to say, “(the) housing (authority) has things like dump trucks and backhoes. Tlingit and Haida has equipment too. So it’s kind of the perfect team up right now of resources and manpower.”

Jackie Ku.seen Pata, who is Tlingit, heads the regional housing authority and is 1st vice president of Tlingit and Haida Central Council. She told ICT the housing authority has expertise to offer as well as equipment.

“We have a lot of working knowledge of the homes and the communities. We’ve provided other kinds of repair programs and stuff, so it’s been helpful for us to be able to deploy and to work in those areas, particularly with things like neighborhood cleanups, so we know how to manage the dump runs and to be able to pick up the debris,” she said.

“But right now we’re just trying to get the water out and we’re using all the crews we can and equipment to clean up and get the water out of the house to try and dry them out as quickly as possible. And I think that’s the expertise that we have, is we know how to deal with those kinds of things and make sure that they get decontaminated so we don’t have mold build up,” Pata said.

Peterson said the flood water was full of glacial silt, which sets up “like cement” when it dries out. “So it’s going to be really problematic. We’re going to be seeing tens and tens of millions of dollars of damage, if not more, just on my guess.”

Peterson said mental health in response to the trauma of the flood is not being overlooked. “Every one of our tribal citizens that have been impacted are being reached out and connected to, so they’re feeling supported. And this morning, as I was going around earlier this morning, I felt like that’s the thing that people needed the most was to know that somebody cared and that they were looking out for them.”

The council set up a shelter at a community center and tribal headquarters — the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall — and set up a crisis line.The tribe will be issuing a disaster declaration to support requests for funding and resources for the flood response. The City and Borough of Juneau and the state of Alaska have issued disaster declarations and a federal declaration is pending.

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