Hundreds of people in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley are living on the front line of a climate change disaster they didn’t see coming. This is Outburst, the story of how glacial outburst flooding has escalated faster than human imagination – and public policies to protect people.
KTOO takes you from the floodwaters to the glacier’s edge to uncover why the annual floods happen, how they got out of control and what can be done to keep Juneau safe.
On a drive through the suburban streets of Mendenhall Valley, “FOR SALE” signs have multiplied along the streets that flood year after year.
In the fourth and final episode of Outburst, KTOO’s Alix Soliman asks residents what they plan to do. Some feel they have no choice but to cut their losses and leave. Others hope to stay, pointing to investments they’ve made into their homes and the tight-knit Juneau community.
Either way, many Mendenhall Valley residents feel constrained by another major problem facing Juneau: the housing crunch.
