‘Devastating’ landslide in Ketchikan, Alaska, leaves at least one dead and leads to evacuations

At least one person was killed and at least three injured in a landslide in the city of Ketchikan in southeastern Alaska, according to local authorities.

According to a statement from Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer, the storm also led to evacuation orders, damaged numerous homes and caused power outages.

The person killed was Sean Griffin, who worked as a senior maintenance technician for the City of Ketchikan's Public Works Department, the city said in a statement Monday.

“It was his commitment to the community that led him to respond to the call for help during his scheduled vacation,” the statement said. “Sean and another team member were cleaning storm drains when they were caught in the landslide on the Third Avenue Bypass.”

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, along with local authorities, declared a state of emergency.

“I have directed state agencies to provide all necessary resources and personnel for the relief effort,” Dunleavy said.

An emergency shelter has been set up at Ketchikan High School, officials said.

In a post on X, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan called the landslide “devastating.”

An area has been identified south of the original landslide where another landslide could occur. Emergency services are on standby, the statement added.

A response specialist from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Emergency Management, as well as federal Department of Transportation personnel, are expected to travel to Ketchikan on Monday, Dunleavy said.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never experienced a landslide of this magnitude,” Mayor Kiffer said in the statement, adding, “The landslides we have seen throughout the region demonstrate that this is clearly a regional problem that we must work to understand with the assistance of our state geologist. The loss of life we ​​have experienced is heartbreaking, and my condolences go out to those who have lost their homes.”

All three injured people were taken to a local hospital, the local authorities said in a statement. One was treated and released, the other two were admitted. Their condition was initially unclear.

The statement said all Ketchikan inmates were accounted for.

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 2.6 inches of rain in about 36 hours, though rainfall totals at higher elevations ranged from 5 to 9 inches.

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 taking 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 began to shake. 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. We realized this was probably much bigger 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 as climate change makes storms more intense and weakens ground stability, they pose 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 residential areas amid “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 find out the cause so we can move on,” he said.

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 are mudslides often triggered by heavy rainfall. 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 vulnerable to slides. Other types include slow-moving landslides and rockfalls.

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