Sad News From Juneau, Alaska Today
Today a piece of the Mendenhall Glacier broke loose and caused major flooding along the Mendenall River near the airport. So far, all I have read says that homes have been destroyed. Have not seen anything yet about loss of life. What this will mean for cruise ships, I do not know. I would suspect that a number of tours could be canceled because of the flooding and Mendenhall Glacier may not be acessible or safe.
Apparently, it is a phenomenon that happens ever year, typically once or twice. They call it jokulhlaup, which is Icelandic, because this is also something that is observed in Icelandic glaciers. A very good description of how the seasonal glacier release and consequent flood waters is here for anyone interested:
https://alaskapublic.org/2020/07/28/a-glacial-dam-near-juneau-could-burst-any-time/
