Landslide in Alaska claims 1 life and 3 injuries in Ketchikan

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A landslide carved a path down a steep, heavily forested mountainside and struck several homes in Ketchikan, killing one person and injuring three in the latest such disaster in the mountainous region of southeast Alaska.

The landslide Sunday afternoon prompted a mandatory evacuation of surrounding homes in the town, a popular stop for cruise ships along the famous Inside Passage in the Alaska Panhandle. The slope was still unstable Monday, and authorities said state and local geologists would arrive to assess the potential for further landslides.

Last November, six people were killed, including a family of five, when a landslide destroyed two houses in Wrangellabout 161 kilometers to the north. Heavy rainfall was blamed for landslides that killed people. two people in Haines in 2020 and three people in Sitka in 2015.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never experienced a landslide of this magnitude,” Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer said in a statement. “Given the landslides we have seen throughout the region, there is clearly a regional problem that we need to work to understand with the assistance of our state geologist.”

He said the loss of life was “heartbreaking and my condolences go out to those who have lost their homes.”

The landslide followed a weekend rainstorm in an unusually dry August, said Andrew Park, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. The weather service said early Monday that Ketchikan received about 66 millimeters of rain in about 36 hours, although total rainfall at higher elevations ranged from 127 to 229 millimeters.

Landslides can be unpredictable, but this one occurred without certain other risk factors, such as strong winds, Park said.

“There were none of the big warning signs we would normally see,” he said.

Leah Canfield was trying to take a nap when the landslide hit. She saw a flash of light – she thought it was lightning at first, but it was probably an exploding electrical conductor, she said – and then her house started shaking. She woke her husband, and they grabbed their dogs and went outside.

“As we walked down the stairs, we saw a lot of debris flying outside our office window and we realized this was probably much worse than just an earthquake,” she said.

They found their neighbor's house had fallen down a slope, with part of it coming to rest in their front yard. Another two-story house next door partially collapsed and slid into another house, knocking it off its foundation. Trees, debris and a telephone pole landed on the roof of Canfield's house, but Canfield said she believes the house can be saved.

After calling their family members and telling them they were OK, they walked about twenty minutes to a hotel as their pickup truck was buried between uprooted trees.

Ketchikan is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, a temperate rainforest that covers much of Southeast Alaska. Landslides are common in the region, but they receive little attention when they strike remote, uninhabited areas.

But like climate change They intensify storms and destabilize the ground, thus posing a greater risk to the population.

Because of the steep terrain, there is limited space for development in the region, and towns and roads are built at the base of the slopes. Landslides are becoming increasingly common in populated areas with “old infrastructure that was built under hazardous conditions,” says Aaron Jacobs, a meteorologist and senior hydrologist at the National Weather Service's Juneau office.

“It’s becoming more and more common for them to impact people,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs planned to travel to Ketchikan on Monday to study soil composition in the area and find out why the drought occurred, even though the area had been experiencing a period of drought prior to the weekend's rains.

“We will learn more about it and hopefully we can find out the cause and then move on,” he said.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy declared a state of emergency for Ketchikan, while Kiffer and Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor Rodney Dial declared a separate state of emergency. A shelter has been set up at Ketchikan High School.

Two of the victims in Ketchikan were hospitalized, one was treated and released. All other people are missing, the city and municipality said in a joint statement.

It was not immediately clear how many homes were damaged; the state Department of Transportation sent a drone pilot to Ketchikan to help assess the landslide.

Ketchikan School Superintendent Michael Robbins said in a statement on social media that a dozen people had been staying at the local high school's emergency shelter since Monday morning.

However, since people often stay with friends or relatives after such incidents, it is not known how many people have lost their homes.

Power was restored in some areas by 8:15 p.m. on Sunday. Other areas remain without power while the landslide is cleared and broken power poles are replaced.

Landslides include Debris flows often triggered by heavy rain. When trees are destroyed by deforestation or fire, the loss of root structure can weaken the soil. Rain that is not absorbed by plants can soak the soil, making it more susceptible to sliding. Other types include creeping, which moves slowly downward, and rockslides.

In Alaska, melting permafrost, melting glaciers, earthquakes and heavy rainfall can trigger landslides.

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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Leah Willingham of Charleston, West Virginia, contributed writing.