Juneau residents impacted by the Mendenhall River flood begin recovery step by step

“Every room has water in it and mud,” Debora Gerrish said at her home on Emily Way on Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the Mendenhall River had receded from record flooding. “Everything on the floor is destroyed. I’m trying to save my grandmother’s hope chest from 1913.”

A similar glacial outburst flood last year only filled the ditches on her street. But this year’s flood saw the river crest more than a foot higher, resulting in an unexpected deluge of water into numerous homes on Emily Way and other neighborhood streets shortly after midnight Tuesday – when many people thought the worst might be over.

Residents in more than 100 homes damaged by the flooding are now trying to salvage and repair what they can, with the assistance of a multitude of government, nonprofit and private entities that are rushing in to help.

On Thursday people who signed up at a volunteer center operated at Melvin Park by the United Way of Southeast Alaska were on their way to the Gerrishes’ home.

“We’re still trying to get stuff out of rooms that are soaking wet,” she said. “We’ve lost thousands of dollars worth of books.”

Gerrish said she had a “safe place” for family heirlooms like rings and pearls to be worn on wedding days. The safe place was soaked. On Thursday she was still trying to dry out the hope chest.

The flood picked up and dislodged two garden frames of the Gerrishes. She said her husband is a farmer from the Midwest who loves to garden every summer.

“We might be able to save the potatoes,” she said.

Gerrish has just started an online two-week course on Monday about climate change through BeADisciple titled “Loving People and Planet in God’s Name.”

She said she is familiar with the reason why her house was flooded — the break of an ice dam at Suicide Basin, a process known as a jökulhlaup that’s occurred annually since 2011. However, the Mendenhall River’s peak level of 15.99 feet this year was notably higher than last year’s then-record 14.97 feet, which far exceeded the previous record of 11.99 feet in 2016.

She was in her Zoom class when rising water threatening her house resulted in her telling her teacher she had to evacuate. She went to the city’s shelter at Floyd Dryden Middle School.

The shelter at FDMS didn’t have internet and she tried to drive home to do classwork at 3 a.m. thinking the Mendenhall River had finished cresting.

“You know how you drive home, it’s just kind of automatic, you’ve done it so many times,” she said. “I looked and I went, ‘There’s water tracks on the road, that’s strange. It hasn’t rained.’ And then my lights hit it, and Julep had turned into a lake. You go around this curve, and then there was just this giant lake where Julep was.”

Gerrish turned around and went back to the shelter. Her teacher asked if she would teach a class about climate change in Alaska. She said she wants to teach others because people in the Lower 48 “have no idea how climate change impacts Alaska.”

Gerrish had books and articles about melting ice in a pile on the floor that were soaking wet. She tried to dry them out in the sun.

“We’re the ones being affected first and we’re gonna be affected the hardest,” she said.

Her daughter, Christy Gendron, was on Tuesday helping clean up and mark where water lines were to document the damage. A friend told her to record what had been lost and thrown away.

Gerrish said the Red Cross had arranged for her to stay the two nights after the flood at the Baranof Hotel.

“Where are we going to live?” she asked. Gerrish said she is immune-compromised and she has asthma. She’s also allergic to dogs and cats, which makes it difficult for her to find a new place to live, she said.

On Thursday she was still looking for a solution.

Jessica Nardi, another Emily Way resident, was pulling out her damaged belongings to her sunny lawn on Tuesday afternoon. She said her first floor was flooded and their cars stopped working. The extent of her damage to drywall and needed repairs is still being assessed.

“We’re very lucky though because we’re safe and we have family and friends who can help,” Nardi said.

She said the major issue came from the river water overfilling the storm drains along the greenbelt behind the houses on Emily Way. On Tuesday afternoon, silt and debris had made the drain unrecognizable.

Another Emily Way resident, Maggie Nolen, was asleep in her basement apartment when she said she heard the water gush under the door early Tuesday morning. She said in total there was three to four feet of water inside. At that point, her car was already trapped and she couldn’t evacuate.

She had time to grab her necessities and valuables, and move upstairs to her landlord’s living quarters. In the morning, Nolen said her car started — although it spewed water from the exhaust pipe and its floorboards were “sopping wet.”

She said the company she works for, Coastal Helicopters, offers employee housing through September so that’s where she’ll seek shelter.

“Now it’s just a matter of going through our stuff,” she said.

Her landlord, Abner Miller, said the basement is a total loss. The garage also flooded. He said he works for the city’s engineering department and he would like to see more preventative measures taken in the future. He said his long-term plan for repairing his residence will depend on how the city responds.

Miller said on Thursday they had just started to take things out to the street for trash pickup.

“The very first day we spent pumping water out,” he said. “Day two, we spent going through personal things, salvaging what could be salvaged, and kind of making piles, what’s gonna go and what’s gonna stay. And also the things that could be salvaged, try to clean it up. And it was metal in the garage, tools, trying to keep it from corroding. Time-sensitive stuff. That was day two. Day three now is trash to the road and pulling construction materials so that the frame of the house can dry.”

Recovery efforts are still just beginning

The volunteer center that launched Wednesday at Melvin Park is being staffed at least throughout the weekend, including 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers at the center are being matched with residents in need or assigned to general cleanup work.

As soon as they opened, Jimmy Brackett, a homeowner on Long Run Drive, was there to request assistance with pulling insulation out of his crawlspace.

“Another three inches and the water could have been in the house,” he said. “It was impressive, came through with a lot of force.”

Brenna Heintz and Molly Barnes helped run the volunteer center. Their jobs involve coordinating where people go and managing tasks. They said this role needs more volunteers so the center can continue operating through the weekend.

Heintz and Barnes were displaced last year following the 2023 flood. They live in condominiums along the Mendenhall River. They said they didn’t lose any property, but lost access for a few months due to the foundation being washed away.

“I want to help people because I know exactly what this feels like,” Heintz said.

The City and Borough of Juneau gave United Way gloves and trash bags. Volunteers are asked to bring heavy-duty personal protective equipment and sturdy shoes. Donations of box fans, dehumidifiers, food and other tools are being accepted at the help center.

As of Thursday morning, 35 volunteers had signed up and United Way had received 26 requests for assistance from impacted homeowners.

The Salvation Army had food and drinks available for residents impacted by the flood and for volunteers at Melvin Park. They expect to be set up for a maximum of 10 days from 12-6 p.m.

“This is our mobile canteen and the purpose is that we want to give people something to eat so they don’t need to cook, or they might not have resources,” Maj. Petr Janousek said. “So they can come here, they can do whatever. I mean, they can get some food, they can get some cleaning supplies, and if they have some special need, we will register those, and we’ll try to facilitate how to fill those needs.”

Janousek said the Salvation Army will also register volunteers and accept donations.

Volunteers of any age and ability are welcome.

“We’ll meet them with a smile, a cold glass of water and maybe a sandwich,” Carol Pitts, a long-time volunteer with the Salvation Army, said.

People in need of help or wanting to volunteer with United Way can sign up online. Volunteers can also contact volunteer coordinator Ryan O’Shaughnessy at (907) 209-5069.

Residents in need of emergency shelter or long-term shelter due to the flood event can contact floodresponse@juneau.gov.

The City and Borough of Juneau has also posted a flood response page.

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.