Residents within the flood zone should leave the area by 3 p.m. today, Wednesday. That was the overriding message at a news conference this morning from officials managing the response to Juneau’s glacial outburst flood.
“Evacuating is absolutely the best way to keep yourselves, your neighbors and first responders safe during this event,” said the city’s emergency programs manager, Ryan O’Shaughnessy. “We’re tremendously confident in the HESCO barriers. We’re tremendously confident in the pumps that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided.”
“None of this is worth betting your life on,” he said.
If the flood breaches the barriers, residents would have only minutes’ notice, he said. The National Weather Service would issue a flash flood warning and instruct residents still in the flood zone to shelter in place. That means people should get to the highest point wherever they are, like the second story of a home, and not attempt to evacuate. Anyone in an emergency should call 911 immediately.
“The amount of water coming into the neighborhood in a HESCO breach scenario is truly massive. We’re talking about tens of thousands of cubic feet of water per second,” O’Shaughnessy said. Fast-moving water would be “incredibly destructive,” he said.
An emergency shelter is open at the Floyd Dryden Gymnasium, including an area for pets. Six people stayed at the shelter Tuesday night, Loren Jones of the American Red Cross said.
Officials at the press conference announced a number of closures or service modifications:
• Capital Transit buses will continue running in the area until 5 p.m. Wednesday to assist with evacuations. At 5 p.m., Capital Transit routes will no longer be operating in the evacuation area.
• Back Loop Bridge is scheduled to close at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
• Brotherhood Bridge will be closed to pedestrians around 5:15.
• A temporary flight restriction is in effect over the flood zone as of 8 a.m. Wednesday to allow Department of Transportation drones to monitor the barriers.
• The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center will close at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Access to the campground and the west side of Mendenhall Lake has already been closed.
City Engineering and Public Works Director Denise Koch said crews were “in the process of patching” some “knife slits” discovered on the face of barriers near Clinton Drive. Crews will continue to monitor the barriers throughout the flood, she said.
The National Weather Service continues to predict this year’s flood will crest Thursday morning between 8 a.m. and noon at 16.1 to 16. 6 feet, slightly lower than last year’s record flood.
Anyone with questions about the flood can call a 24-hour flood information hotline at 907-500-0890.
This story was updated with most recent timing for the flood crest and a photo of Ryan O’Shaughnessy.
