NOTN- Juneau officials reflected on the city’s response to this month’s glacial outburst flood, saying while the emergency actions were effective more work is needed to strengthen protections.
Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said “We’ve been getting a fair amount of expressions of concern that we’re early in congratulating the people that worked on it, expressing our appreciation and thanks, and we have, because it was a great response to a tragic event. At the same time, I think we are all capable of holding two truths at once, we have work to do. We have a long road ahead of us, the barrier project was far from perfect.”
Following a damage assessment of the city, it was revealed that 16 houses experienced minor water damage while six homes suffered major impacts, primarily on View Drive.
Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon said damage repairs could cost up to a million dollars. “We’re not standing around patting ourselves on the back. We’re just thankful that the houses didn’t get flooded to the number that happened last year, and we are continuing to look for not just another phase of our short term, but also our long term solution.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the temporary flood barriers helped protect Juneau neighborhoods during last week’s flood.
The Corps shipped more than 37,000 feet of barrier wall, 112,000 sandbags, and other materials from Illinois to Juneau, where they were placed in phases along 2.5 miles of the river.
Floodwaters peaked at 16.6 ft., the highest on record.
“The HESCO worked.” Said Mayor Weldon, “and yes, there’s water in people’s yards on the other side, but the difference in height is pretty tremendous.”
