Ice dam at Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier releases floodwater toward downstream homes

3 comments

1. **From AP:**

   A huge basin of rainwater and snowmelt dammed by Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier has started to release, and officials on Tuesday urged residents in some parts of Juneau to evacuate ahead of what could be a record surge of floodwater downstream.

   Officials in recent days have been warning people in the flood zone to be ready to evacuate. On Tuesday morning they confirmed water had started escaping the ice dam and flowing downstream, with flooding expected late Tuesday into Wednesday.

   Flooding from the basin has become [an annual concern](https://apnews.com/article/alaska-juneau-glacial-dam-flooding-781b1fad39fa1ce0f6800b1a47bfa3c1), and in recent years has swept away houses and swamped hundreds of homes.

2. [Jokulhaups](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6kulhlaup) are not to be messed with.

3. I feel so lucky I was able to visit Alaska in the late 90s. So many of the glaciers have receded way back since then. In another 10 years, some of them won’t be visible at all.

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