Greater than 100 houses in Alaska’s capital Juneau have been broken by a glacial dam outburst north of town, an more and more frequent phenomenon exacerbated by climate change.
The flooding started on Monday evening after water spilled out from the glacial lake at Suicide Basin, which yearly fills with rainwater and meltwater and is normally dammed by the retreating Mendenhall Glacier. If sufficient water fills the basin, it might burst by way of or overtop the ice damming it in.
The overflow crested at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, with the Mendenhall River at 15.99 toes, the Nationwide Climate Service stated. The river’s ranges had dropped again to regular by Wednesday.
Native authorities had warned residents close to the river to take precautions and opened a neighborhood college as a shelter. Metropolis officers stated no accidents have been reported.
The flood got here nearly precisely a 12 months after a record-breaking glacial dam outburst at Suicide Basin brought on comparable flooding. In 2023, the Mendenhall River crested at 14.82 toes, the Nationwide Climate Service stated.
The danger of glacial dam outbursts has been exacerbated by man-made local weather change, which causes glaciers to retreat and has elevated the quantity and dimension of glacial lakes.
The U.S. Geological Survey has monitored the Suicide Basin since 1965 but it surely was not till July 2011 {that a} glacial dam outburst was recorded. Since then, the basin has burst greater than 30 occasions, the Nationwide Climate Service stated.
—By Jonathan Allen, Reuters
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