![]() ![]() Saturated soil can give way when gusts blow trees on a slope, said Barrett Salisbury, a geologist with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.Īnother storm system is expected in the Wrangell area late Wednesday into Thursday. ![]() Rainfall amounts like what Wrangell received Monday are not unusual, Jacobs said, but strong winds could have helped trigger the slide. Landslides also were reported in the Ketchikan area and on Prince of Wales Island, he said. ![]() It was part of a strong storm system that moved through southeast Alaska bringing heavy snow in places and blizzard-like conditions to Juneau - and rainfall with minor flooding to areas further south. Monday, with wind gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph) at higher elevations, said Aaron Jacobs, a hydrologist and meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. Wrangell received about 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain between 1 a.m. They urged people caught on the other side of the slide, away from Wrangell, to evacuate by water taxi. Troopers also warned of the threat of possible additional landslides in the area after a day of stormy weather marked by high winds and rain. The state’s emergency management division also planned to send someone to Wrangell to determine what the community’s needs are, added agency spokesperson Jeremy Zidek. The state transportation department said a drone expert and heavy equipment operator also were dispatched to Wrangell. “Rose and I are heartbroken by this disaster and we pray for the safety of all those on site and offer all the resources our state has available,” he said in a statement on social media. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for Wrangell, saying he and his wife were praying for all those affected. We’re broken, but resilient and determined to find everybody that’s missing.” “And it always comes together for tragedies like this. “Our community is resilient,” Wrangell interim borough manager Mason Villarma told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Troopers said a large-scale search and rescue mission wasn’t initially possible because the site was unstable and hazardous. Boats evacuated residents from the cut-off area to the unaffected part of town, according to the state emergency management office. The landslide buried a highway and cut off access and power to approximately 75 homes. “Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts are with those suffering due to last night’s events,” officials wrote on Wrangell’s Facebook page. Officials posted on Facebook that a local food bank was accepting donations and offered a community gathering place at a bakery. The ages of the children were not released. Crews resorted to a cadaver-sniffing dog and heat-sensing drones to search for two children and one adult who remained unaccounted for hours after the disaster, while the Coast Guard and other vessels looked along the oceanfront, which was littered with debris from the landslide. Rescue crews found the body of a girl in an initial search and late Tuesday the bodies of two adults were found by a drone operator. JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A landslide that ripped down a sopping, heavily forested mountainside in southeast Alaska killed three people, injured a woman and left three other people missing as it smashed into three homes in a remote fishing community, authorities said Tuesday. (Alaska Department of Public Safety via AP) Authorities said at least one person died and others were believed missing after the large landslide roared down a mountaintop into the path of three homes. This photo provided by the Alaska Department of Public Safety shows the landslide that occurred the previous evening near Wrangell, Alaska, on Nov. ![]()
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