A community-led flood recovery group has convened to address gaps in clean-up and emergency planning ahead of future glacial outburst floods in the Mendenhall Valley.
Organizers held the group’s second meeting on Thursday. About 60 people crowded into Riverside Baptist Church. Most of them experienced flooding firsthand during the record-breaking glacial outburst in August.
The meeting began with a mental health check-in. One of the organizers, Renee Tl’aagunk Culp, encouraged flood-affected residents to rely on each other.
“We are strong Alaskans. We are independent people, but we survive in this harsh environment with interdependence,” Culp said. “We know that that that we help each other literally survive. So just reach your hand out.”
One of the group’s priorities is finding a better system for warning and evacuation ahead of the next flood. The Mendenhall River has now seen record-breaking flooding two years in a row.
Many community members worried about the possibility of another big flood this fall, after news circulated that Suicide Basin had started filling again.
Experts say another major flood this year is unlikely, but community organizers have arranged to have Juneau Taxi provide free evacuations for those with wheelchairs or other disabilities in the event of another outburst. People can contact Juneau Taxi directly to be put on an evacuation list.
Representatives from the City and Borough of Juneau, including Deputy City Manager Robert Barr, Emergency Manager Tom Mattice and Assembly Member Michell Hale, also attended the meeting.
Mattice encouraged neighbors to make evacuation plans together before another flood comes.
“Everybody needs to have personal plans. You need to work with your family, your loved ones, your neighbors, your churches,” he said. “People need to coordinate and think about evacuation.”
Mattice also recommended purchasing a NOAA weather radio, which provides real-time updates on flooding, and the city soft-launched an opt-in emergency alert system, which they’ll be rolling out officially soon.
They also answered questions about the city’s newly introduced flood fighting plan. It will involve creating a makeshift sandbag levees along key points on the river, which could reduce flooding in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
Community organizers have created a website where they plan to consolidate flood mitigation ideas from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other sources. The website also has a place for people to volunteer to help flood-affected residents that are working to rebuild.