Rare www3traveler Posted August 6, 2023 #1 Share Posted August 6, 2023 (edited) 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. Edited August 6, 2023 by www3traveler correct spelling 1 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloAlaska Posted August 6, 2023 #2 Share Posted August 6, 2023 Thank you for posting this I hadn’t seen the news yet. Was actually reading an article about tourism issues long term at the glacier this morning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare puppycanducruise Posted August 6, 2023 #3 Share Posted August 6, 2023 Thanks for the info. I hope everyone is okay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea777 Posted August 6, 2023 #4 Share Posted August 6, 2023 https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/glacial-break-causes-major-flooding-alaska-destroys-structures/story?id=102056193 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted August 6, 2023 #5 Share Posted August 6, 2023 https://www.yahoo.com/gma/glacial-break-causes-major-flooding-181331808.html Amazing shot of a large house falling into the over flowed river. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbeyg Posted August 6, 2023 #6 Share Posted August 6, 2023 Wow! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 6, 2023 #7 Share Posted August 6, 2023 All the more reason to just go on cruises if you want to be on the coast, not buy a house next to water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandebeach Posted August 6, 2023 #8 Share Posted August 6, 2023 Just watching the video on national news. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare debenson0723 Posted August 6, 2023 #9 Share Posted August 6, 2023 @bluesea777thank you for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiselvr04 Posted August 6, 2023 #10 Share Posted August 6, 2023 We were just at the glacier last week. It rained steadily the whole day we were there. It’s always sad when people lose their homes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomewhereGirl Posted August 7, 2023 #11 Share Posted August 7, 2023 That is sad. Two years ago I did the NCL Mendenhall Lake canoe excursion. It was one of my favorite Alaska shore excursions ever. The lake was so calm. Who knew what was happening above the glacier. Nature is wild and powerful. Since the water would've come down from the mountain, across the lake to the river, it's probably a good thing this happened at night. Sad for the locals dealing with the aftermath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingos Posted August 7, 2023 #12 Share Posted August 7, 2023 47 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said: We were just at the glacier last week. It rained steadily the whole day we were there. It’s always sad when people lose their homes. I was wondering if this was from extraordinary rainfall, or unusual glacial melt. They are saying it was 3 feet above the record high water mark. 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted August 7, 2023 #13 Share Posted August 7, 2023 I'll be on Quantum in two weeks...supposed to stop in Juneau...wonder how this affects that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine3601 Posted August 7, 2023 #14 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Wow! I sure hope those homes and the red condo building had been evacuated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gottagoacruzn Posted August 7, 2023 #15 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Yes, saw that on an article earlier today. Thought oh no. What a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSprite01 Posted August 7, 2023 #16 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Oh no! That’s so sad. I used to live on Mendenhall Loop Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Latte Posted August 7, 2023 #17 Share Posted August 7, 2023 13 hours ago, flamingos said: I was wondering if this was from extraordinary rainfall, or unusual glacial melt. They are saying it was 3 feet above the record high water mark. 😞 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/ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingos Posted August 7, 2023 #18 Share Posted August 7, 2023 6 minutes ago, Anita Latte said: 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/ Thank you, but this seems a bit more extreme than typical. 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Latte Posted August 7, 2023 #19 Share Posted August 7, 2023 42 minutes ago, flamingos said: Thank you, but this seems a bit more extreme than typical. 😞 Oh it’s definitely extreme. Feels like this event is what that article from 2020 was warning about. Like the article says, it’s an annual phenomenon, but conditions in Suicide Basin have been worsening and so one of these years, it would be much worse. The previous “worse” one was 2016 which has been referenced in all news accounts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pussycat803 Posted August 9, 2023 #20 Share Posted August 9, 2023 oh my! We're going to be in Juneau near the end of this month. I've been waiting to do dog sleds on the glacier (can't remember if it's mendenhall or a differrent one) for a few years now. Hoping that won't be affected. We've rebooked our cruise dates just to get a date when dog sleds are done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted August 10, 2023 #21 Share Posted August 10, 2023 2 hours ago, pussycat803 said: oh my! We're going to be in Juneau near the end of this month. I've been waiting to do dog sleds on the glacier (can't remember if it's mendenhall or a differrent one) for a few years now. Hoping that won't be affected. We've rebooked our cruise dates just to get a date when dog sleds are done. Dog sledding on glaciers is usually over by mid-August. Every year is different but when the snow is gone, it is done. You may want to contact your vendor and ask them when they anticipate being done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froufie Posted August 13, 2023 #22 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Anyone know what the status of the Juneau port stop is right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pussycat803 Posted August 14, 2023 #23 Share Posted August 14, 2023 On 8/9/2023 at 5:02 PM, Coral said: Dog sledding on glaciers is usually over by mid-August. Every year is different but when the snow is gone, it is done. You may want to contact your vendor and ask them when they anticipate being done with it. We actually rebooked our cruise to an earlier date just so we could get the dog sleds booked. We haven't heard of any cancellations so im assuming we're still good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted August 14, 2023 #24 Share Posted August 14, 2023 47 minutes ago, pussycat803 said: We actually rebooked our cruise to an earlier date just so we could get the dog sleds booked. We haven't heard of any cancellations so im assuming we're still good. Not sure what port you are leaving out of, but I was able to get a helicopter ride and dog sled tour out of Anchorage in early September with Alaska Helicopter Tours. We are flying into Anchorage a few days before the cruise leaves out of Seward. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted August 14, 2023 #25 Share Posted August 14, 2023 5 hours ago, Froufie said: Anyone know what the status of the Juneau port stop is right now? As someone who lives in Alaska, I am not aware of any changes in cruise ship port calls. I also hope that folks realize that these floods from Suicide Basin have occurred annually since 2011. The science behind these floods is interesting but this last event was clearly much more extreme than in prior years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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