Forty-three people spent the night in Juneau’s emergency shelter at Floyd Dryden Middle School on Monday night as a record-high flood from the Mendenhall Glacier inundated homes.
Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said the total number of people who evacuated their homes is likely several times that; shelters are usually a last resort for people who cannot stay with family, friends or in a hotel.
“You can imagine how hard it would be to wake up with water in your house, not expecting there to be water in your house,” he said.
The Juneau Assembly declared a local disaster emergency and requested state and federal assistance in an emergency meeting at noon Tuesday. Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared the flood a state emergency on Tuesday morning, and a federal disaster request is expected soon.
At the emergency meeting, City Manager Katie Koester said many residents who did not think their homes were in harm’s way ended up evacuating in the middle of the night.
“Residents were just kind of anticipating that they wouldn’t be impacted, and then had to leave in a big hurry to come to the shelter. Many of them were wet,” she said.
The flood was a foot higher than last year’s record-breaker that sent buildings tumbling into the Mendenhall River.
Koester said the city is still assessing the damage, but at least 100 vehicles were flooded. Power was back on in the Mendenhall Valley by Tuesday afternoon.
Barr said no one was killed or injured.
“No shortage of trauma, I think, exists for many people. Lots of displacement happened, lots of property damage, lots and lots of work ahead of us,” he said.
The damage is more extensive this year than in last year’s flood, officials said. They anticipate the need for short- and long-term shelter, financial support for individuals and businesses, and support for private and public damage.
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