Heavy rains and flooding in Southeast Alaska triggered a series of small landslides in Ketchikan on Wednesday that blocked roads and damaged a home.
The most destructive slide came down just after 1 a.m. Wednesday off North Tongass Highway. The slide happened on private property north of town. Ketchikan Fire Chief Rick Hines said that the earth of one property gave way, taking a large chunk of the homeowner’s driveway with it. The slide then hit the first floor of another home below, damaging it and the residents’ car. Hines said the people in the damaged home were evacuated without injuries.
City spokeswoman Kim Simpson said in a text to KRBD that there have been no additional slides on the property. She said that Assistant Fire Chief Greg Karlik and Public Works Head Seth Brakke met with the victims Thursday morning to provide guidance but since the slide was on private property, the city and borough won’t be handling the cleanup.
Airport weather data shows Ketchikan saw nearly seven inches of rain in the couple of days before the slide. It’s one of the wettest Mays on record in the First City. The U.S. Forest Service is also reporting significant flooding in the Ward Lake campground area north of town.
Another slide came down Wednesday blocking White River Road. The Ketchikan Borough said that the slide trapped a logging crew, a construction crew, and a handful of employees of a local outdoor adventure tour company on the other side. Alaska Department of Transportation crews managed to clear a path through the slide zone after about seven hours. No injuries have been reported in any of Wednesday’s landslides or flood events.