The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Six people missing in small town hit by big rain, mudslides
Six people were missing in southeastern Alaska on Wednesday after heavy rains prompted landslides that buried homes under several feet of mud, according to state officials.
The landslides crushed at least four houses in Haines, Alaska, which is about 90 miles north of the state capital, Juneau, and is home to about 2,500 people, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Nine feet of mud and trees were covering one part of Haines, according to the department, which said it had suspended rescue operations Wednesday evening because of rumbling, unstable ground.
Rescue operations were set to resume Thursday morning, the department said, when a helicopter carrying medics, search personnel and dogs was scheduled to arrive in Haines.
Mike Dunleavy, the governor of Alaska, said the state emergency operations center was coordinating the response and that searchand- rescue teams had been mobilized.
“My emergency response team and I are monitoring the natural disaster unfolding in Haines & the broader Southeast,” Dunleavy wrote on Twitter.
Douglas Olerud, the mayor of Haines, said the mudslides had been caused by a storm system that dumped 8 inches of rain Tuesday and another 3- to- 4 inches of rain Wednesday.
He said intense flooding resulted because drainage ditches in Haines had already been plugged with about 2- to- 3 feet of snow from a previous storm.
A series of small mudslides hit Haines on Tuesday and a major mudslide crushed homes Wednesday, he said. About 30 people were evacuated by boat, he said.
Olerud said he had spoken Wednesday to Dunleavy and other state officials about the urgent need for support.
“Everybody is in awe of the devastation and everybody is really busy helping each other,” he said Wednesday night. “We’re praying we have a happy ending and we’re able to find everybody alive.”
The Coast Guard said it was among the agencies providing support.
“At this point we are aware that damage has occurred in the town of Haines following the report of multiple landslides in the borough,” Capt. Stephen White, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, said in a statement.