Ketchikan Landslide

[bostonphil]

Have any NCL cruises been affected because of the landslide in Ketchikan?

 

 

[wilmingtech]

48 minutes ago, bostonphil said:

Have any NCL cruises been affected because of the landslide in Ketchikan?

 

 

This AM Carinival Panorama is due into Ward cove at 8am local time.  According to marine traffic it looks to be on schedule.  It'll be interesting to watch how this unfolds.  The landslide hit the 3rd Avenue by pass and reports are that 2nd Ave, Water Street and areas south of the landslide are being evacuated as they could have another landslide.  That increases traffic on the one road that the busses take to where they drop you off in Ketchikan.  I may be completely wrong though.

 

I think the next NCL ship due there is the SUN on Wednesday the 28th.

Edited August 26 by wilmingtech

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, bostonphil said:

Have any NCL cruises been affected because of the landslide in Ketchikan?

 

Clearly, it is a tragedy. What affect would you expect on cruise ships? The slide was on the hillside behind the town, not on the dock (like Skagway). 

[Shellbelle28]

1 hour ago, bostonphil said:

Have any NCL cruises been affected because of the landslide in Ketchikan?

 

 

It's terrible for Ketchikan, and it's so sad someone lost their life and others have lost their homes. Since it happened less than 24 hours ago, I'd imagine the impact on cruising hasn't been fully evaluated. 

[wilmingtech]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

Clearly, it is a tragedy. What affect would you expect on cruise ships? The slide was on the hillside behind the town, not on the dock (like Skagway). 

It's a catch 22 for the people that live there.  Reducing the amount of visitors would be the right thing to do especially if they do indeed have another slide. As it's still raining pretty heavily there. And the additional traffic from tourism now that 3rd Ave is shut down isn't going to help anyone if emergency and heavy vehicles need to get in there.  But more now than ever the locals need the tourist money to recover.  Nothing would be worse than having your house destroyed and then cutting off your income right after.

 

 

[wilmingtech]

Here are some pics to give you an idea of the location and damage done

 

Here is a Google map and the red pointer shows where the picture above was taken.

 

 

Here is the reddit link I got the first image from 

https://www.reddit.com/r/alaska/s/CM4KH6L010

Edited August 26 by wilmingtech
Added reddit link

[www3traveler]

From what I have read there is a possibility of a second landslide.

 

Prayers and Best Wishes to the people of Ketchikan.

[mertziek]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

What affect would you expect on cruise ships? The slide was on the hillside behind the town, not on the dock (like Skagway). 

If there is a declared state of emergency and significant power outages, it could affect the excursion routes despite being outside of town.  Sounds like they are concerned about further slides, too.  A cruise ship with 5,000 passengers might not be in Ketchikan’s best interest right now.

[bostonphil]

17 minutes ago, wilmingtech said:

It's a catch 22 for the people that live there.  Reducing the amount of visitors would be the right thing to do especially if they do indeed have another slide. As it's still raining pretty heavily there. And the additional traffic from tourism now that 3rd Ave is shut down isn't going to help anyone if emergency and heavy vehicles need to get in there.  But more now than ever the locals need the tourist money to recover.  Nothing would be worse than having your house destroyed and then cutting off your income right after.

 

 

Wondering if any of the cruise ships have cancelled Ketchikan because of the landslide. Might be difficult to do excursions.  Might not want to add several thousand more persons into the mix. Businesss might be closed because of the landslide.  

[bostonphil]

31 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

Clearly, it is a tragedy. What affect would you expect on cruise ships? The slide was on the hillside behind the town, not on the dock (like Skagway). 

Wondering if any of the cruise ships have cancelled Ketchikan because of the landslide. Might be difficult to do excursions.  Might not want to add several thousand more persons into the mix. Businesss might be closed because of the landslide.  

[BirdTravels]

9 minutes ago, mertziek said:

If there is a declared state of emergency and significant power outages, it could affect the excursion routes despite being outside of town.  Sounds like they are concerned about further slides, too.  A cruise ship with 5,000 passengers might not be in Ketchikan’s best interest right now.

I live in Hawaii most of the year. Natural disasters happen all the time (like the heavy hurricane rains and winds this week), a large percentage of people make their living on tourism. Keeping tourism going is almost always in the best interest of the overall community. May be a pain in the butt to those dealing with a natural disaster. No tourist, no money to buy groceries, no money to pay the rent, no money to pay the utility bills.

Edited August 26 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

A month ago, there was a landslide "in" Skagway. There was a similar discussion on "why would we dock there if there was a landslide". The landslide was on the Canadian side of the border about 1 hour outside of Skagway. It affected 3 or 4 shore excursions which venture into Canada (yeah it made the news because people on the far side of the slide had to meet their ship in Haines versus getting back to Skagway). The 30+ other shore excursions in Skagway were unaffected. The road was totally closed for a couple of days. We used the road for our shoreex last week. 

[Oceansaway17]

I would have thought that they would have closed Ward cove since buses have to come past that area to get to town. And with more threats of landslides, I would have made sense.

I suppose the city decided to let them dock but again would have thought otherwise.

[tupperstamper]

The news tonight asked cruise ships not to come.

[mertziek]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I live in Hawaii most of the year. Natural disasters happen all the time (like the heavy hurricane rains and winds this week), a large percentage of people make their living on tourism. Keeping tourism going is almost always in the best interest of the overall community. May be a pain in the butt to those dealing with a natural disaster. No tourist, no money to buy groceries, no money to pay the rent, no money to pay the utility bills.

Of course natural disasters happen all the time.  Plus you have to agree many natural disasters impact communities in untold ways - tourism is the least of their concerns right now as they assess for risk of further landslides and impact on their infrastructure.  Again, if they determine the cruise ships will create more problems, they will try to divert them regardless of how many tourism dollars are lost.  Latest I read and reported above by another poster said they are asking the cruise ships to not come.  Still early and I’m sure they are assessing several factors to determine how best to proceed.

[ChiefMateJRK]

I wish the residents the best.  Having been to Ketchikan many times, it wouldn't break my heart if my AK cruise later this year had to dock somewhere else instead, or maybe visit another Glacier.

[gottagoacruzn]

how far is the landslide, from dock 4 in Ketchikan?

[www3traveler]

29 minutes ago, gottagoacruzn said:

how far is the landslide, from dock 4 in Ketchikan?

The landside is a distance from Ward Cove (where NCL docks).  However the main road from Ward Cove to downtown Ketchikan is right along the edge of the landside.  Given that more rain is due over the next several days, more landslides are possible.

[wilmingtech]

Update from KRBD.org

 

"Road closures include:

• Third Avenue from Library to Washington Street
• 1700 Block of Second Avenue/Water Street to Austin Street
• First Avenue from Tongass Avenue to Austin Street 
• White Cliff Avenue

The popular Rainbird Trail is also closed after a section was damaged in the slide.

Responding to what she described as “public concerns regarding the presence of cruise ships in port,” Ketchikan City Manager Delilah Walsh said the city’s downtown cruise ship docks were not threatened by the slide.

“Cruise lines were informed of the emergency, and at least one line opted to cancel shore excursions/tours. The decision to continue or suspend operations is ultimately up to individual companies, tour providers, and downtown businesses. If there is no health or safety issue, the City will not intervene into business decisions or impede commerce for our local businesses,” Walsh said in a social media message."

[Shellbelle28]

9 hours ago, wilmingtech said:

Walsh said in a social media message."

Quite a few of the replies to that post by citizens of Ketchikan are not in favor of keeping the cruise ships coming! 

[mertziek]

27 minutes ago, Shellbelle28 said:

Quite a few of the replies to that post by citizens of Ketchikan are not in favor of keeping the cruise ships coming! 

I’ve read their comments and I feel those opposed to cruise ships coming in right now are valid.  It’s hard to cope with a state of emergency when several big cruise ships drop thousands of passengers off.  It sounds like they are still assessing further risk in the area which further complicates the situation.  Plus Ketchikan is not a booming metropolis so their infrastructure will be limited in their ability to respond.  Ketchikan should do what’s best for Ketchikan.  No easy decisions about how to handle it.

 

[Shellbelle28]

2 minutes ago, mertziek said:

I’ve read their comments and I feel those opposed to cruise ships coming in right now are valid.  It’s hard to cope with a state of emergency when several big cruise ships drop thousands of passengers off.  It sounds like they are still assessing further risk in the area which further complicates the situation.  Plus Ketchikan is not a booming metropolis so their infrastructure will be limited in their ability to respond.  Ketchikan should do what’s best for Ketchikan.  No easy decisions about how to handle it.

 

No matter the decision made, some will disagree. I think the Ward Cove bus traffic is a valid issue and if city facilities are closed and public safety departments are occupied with the landslide, it's not in the best interest of cruise passengers to be there either.

[BirdTravels]

15 hours ago, mertziek said:

Of course natural disasters happen all the time.  Plus you have to agree many natural disasters impact communities in untold ways - tourism is the least of their concerns right now as they assess for risk of further landslides and impact on their infrastructure.  Again, if they determine the cruise ships will create more problems, they will try to divert them regardless of how many tourism dollars are lost.  Latest I read and reported above by another poster said they are asking the cruise ships to not come.  Still early and I’m sure they are assessing several factors to determine how best to proceed.

Incorrect

 

Tourism is what sustains the community. A natural disaster affects the community, but the community still needs to thrive. Gotta pay the bills. If you actually came from a tourism-based economy, you would have an appreciation for that and not the mass media “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season”. 

[Menocchio]

28 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Incorrect

 

Tourism is what sustains the community. A natural disaster affects the community, but the community still needs to thrive. Gotta pay the bills. If you actually came from a tourism-based economy, you would have an appreciation for that and not the mass media “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season”. 

What I've been hearing is more along the lines of "stay off the road until it's clear". Which frankly is just good sense. One person I saw even asked those going north from the dock to cancel their excursions, but noted those going south were still welcome and appreciated. 

[mertziek]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Incorrect

 

Tourism is what sustains the community. A natural disaster affects the community, but the community still needs to thrive. Gotta pay the bills. If you actually came from a tourism-based economy, you would have an appreciation for that and not the mass media “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season”. 

Your opinion only - tourism being just one of the factors those in charge need to consider.  Once they assess with their geologists where/if there is additional risk, the community can best decide what is in its best interest.  I never advocated “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season.”  If there is risk of additional landslides - and there are credible reports that is the case, they will have to decide how best to protect everyone and minimize liability if further events occur, including protecting tourists wanting to visit.  Once they’ve done their risk assessment, they will also be better able to decide on if any further restrictions are needed.

And just for your information, I live in an area that depends heavily on tourism for most of the year so I actually come from a tourism-based economy and know of which I speak.  Yes, tourism dollars are very important to local economy and survival BUT protecting people and minimizing further risks takes priority for community leaders.
Have a nice day…..