Tuesday is Climate and Weather reporter Anna Canny’s last day with KTOO. Over her two years in Juneau, she covered the many ways climate change is changing Southeast Alaska’s landscape.
Listen:
Audio PlayerWhen Anna first moved to Juneau from the East Coast, she immediately set a high standard by making scientific research and complicated stories understandable to listeners and readers.
She provided vital coverage of disasters that shaped Juneau, in the past, and now.
In August 2023, Juneau’s annual glacial outburst flood was disastrous for the first time. Anna went from door to door, speaking with homeowners who were impacted by the flood waters.
Anna flew to Wrangell a few days before Thanksgiving that year to cover the deadly landslide and its aftermath. She spoke with survivors and people who had lost loved ones, and closely followed search-and-rescue efforts.
Then, Anna spent hours reading old newspapers to recount the story of the deadly 1936 landslide here in Juneau, and spoke with survivors, like 94-year-old Albert Shaw.
And this year, she reported on Suicide Basin monitoring in the weeks leading up to yet another unprecedented glacial outburst. When it hit, damaging more than 300 homes in the Mendenhall Valley, Anna covered the community-wide recovery.
These stories gave people the information they needed to prepare for disasters and seek aid in the aftermath. Anna attended countless city meetings to follow the conversation between impacted homeowners and city officials who are all looking ahead to the next outburst flood. She also brought Juneau’s struggles to listeners across the nation by reporting for NPR.
But between disaster coverage, Anna covered many other important topics, like the movement to train Alaska Native farmers.
She chased ravens through downtown and reported on other encounters of the animal kind.
She also kept us abreast of important weather updates in the region.
You may have also heard Anna hosting newscasts, seen her coaching kids crossing-country skiing, and passed her on Juneau’s trails.
What’s next for her? She’s on her way to Colorado where she’ll be doing science writing for a university, delving into the ways climate change is impacting disasters throughout the West.
We’re grateful for all the important work Anna did here at KTOO, and excited to see where her career takes her. Please join us in wishing her the best with this new chapter.
Correction: The 1936 landslide in Juneau took place 88 years ago.