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Latest landslide

The city of Wrangell, where a landslide on Nov. 20, 2023, killed six people including a family of five. (City and Borough of Wrangell photo)

News

Wrangell residents gather to remember landslide victims on one-year anniversary

“We want you to know that we have noticed the incredible heart of this community.”

Prince of Wales Alaska Youth Stewards crew members perform landslide assessment fieldwork. (Photo by Zofia Danielson)

News

Woven Peoples and Place: Ḵutí expands across Southeast Alaska

Project seeks to address community concerns about landslides and other natural hazards in the region.

Debris left behind from a 2022 landslide, on Gastineau Avenue in Juneau on Sept. 26, 2024. Deadly landslides are increasing around the world, but in parts of Alaska, maps of the hazards remain controversial. (Christopher Miller/The New York Times)

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Scientists are mapping landslide risk in Alaska. Some homeowners don’t want to know.

Maps of the hazards remain controversial in some parts of the state, including Juneau.

James Montiver holds Cassie, and William Montiver holds Alani behind them, members of the Ketchikan Fire Department that helped rescue the dogs on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Christopher Mullen / Ketchikan Daily News)

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Dogs saved after seven days in Ketchikan landslide

Ketchikan Fire Department firefighters with heroic efforts Sunday brought joy and some relief to the community as it…

Homes in Ketchikan are damaged by a landslide on Sunday. (Ketchikan Gateway Borough photo)

News

One person killed as major landslide impacts homes in Ketchikan, forces evacuations

Emergency agencies, including statewide and in Juneau, responding as state disaster declared.

A landslide on the South Klondike Highway is seen on Wednesday. The highway is expected to remain closed until at least Friday. (Yukon Highways and Public Works photo)

News

Landslide forces closure of section South Klondike Highway north of the U.S. border

Officials cooperate to help cruise passengers stranded in Canada rejoin their ships in Haines.

This image from video provided by Sunrise Aviation shows the landslide that occurred near Wrangell on Nov. 20, 2023. (Sunrise Aviation via AP)

News

Alaska state geologists’ report on fatal landslide in Wrangell cites heavy rainfall as trigger

Soils saturated by heavy rains unleashed the massive landslide that killed six people in the Southeast Alaska community…

A U.S. Forest Service map shows Wrangell Island and the location of the Zimovia Highway, which runs along Zimovia Strait. Rockfall-mitigation work planned this summer is part of a yearslong project funded in 2020. It targets different sites than the area buried in the fatal Nov. 20 landslide. (Image from U.S. Forest Service map of the Tongass National Forest)

News

Rockfall-mitigation work on tap for Wrangell after deadly landslide

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is seeking bids for rockfall-prevention work along a highway in…

An illustration shows the conceptual design for Gastineau Lodge Apartments in downtown Juneau, which the project’s applicant hopes will be ready for occupancy by the summer of 2025. (Image from documents submitted to the Juneau Planning Commission)

News

Apartment building on Gastineau Avenue gets Planning Commission OK despite fire department concerns

Project in landslide zone also shows effect of Assembly’s vote to eliminate development restrictions.

A map shows areas of downtown Juneau currently considered at severe (red) and moderate (blue) risk of avalanches. (City and Borough of Juneau)

News

Assembly OKs new avalanche and landslide maps, with strong disclaimer for latter

Ordinance passes despite property owners’ objections, but discussion about its specifics not over.

An aerial view of mud and forest debris that buried a stretch of the Zimovia Highway a day after a landslide struck an area of Wrangell on Nov. 21. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

News

Authorities in Wrangell suspend search for boy missing after deadly landslide

Authorities have suspended the search for the 12-year-old boy still missing following a deadly landslide in the southeast…

Search and rescue officials examine the area about 11 miles south of the center of Wrangell where a landslide occurred on Nov. 20. Five people are confirmed dead from the landslide and one still missing. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Public Safety)

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Body of fifth Wrangell landslide victim found; one person still missing

Otto Florschutz, 65, found Thursday evening; Derek Heller, 12, still missing among family of five.

The deadly landslide that struck Wrangell on the night of Nov. 20 is seen the next day. Southeast Alaska is, by nature, vulnerable to such landslides, but climate change is adding to the risk by bringing more precipitation and more extreme rainfall events. (Photo provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

News

Deadly Wrangell landslide is part of a pattern in vulnerable Alaska mountainous terrain

Scientists warn climate change, by increasing precipitation and extreme rainfall, adds to risks.

From her hospital bed on Friday, Nov. 24, Christina Florschutz demonstrates how she pulled pajama bottoms that she found in the landslide debris over her legs, arms and head to keep warm. Her house was destroyed in the landslide, and after spending the night in the wreckage, she was rescued the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 21. (Caroleine James / Wrangell Sentinel)

News

Elementary school aide who survived Wrangell landslide calls circumstances a miracle

Christina Florschutz trapped overnight by landslide that killed at least 4 people, with 2 missing.

An overhead view of the landslide that struck about 11 miles south of the center of Wrangell, destroying three homes and leaving six people dead or missing. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Purviance via the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

News

Girl, 11, is fourth confirmed fatality of Wrangell landslide, two others still missing

Three other family members also killed; officials at town hall address debris removal, other efforts

Brenda Schwartz-Yeager (right), a watercolor artist from Wrangell, discusses her works with Megan Griffin (left) and Lacey Sanders during the Juneau Public Market at Centennial Hall on Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Wrangell vendors struggle with thoughts about landslide, get lots of support at Juneau Public Market

“Everybody’s just been so thoughtful, talking to us and asking if there’s things they can do to help.”

Debris from a massive landslide on Monday night extends into the sea at mile 11 on Zimovia Highway in Wrangell. (U.S. Coast Guard)

News

5 family members and a commercial fisherman neighbor ID’d as dead or missing in Alaska landslide

Parents and one child of family killed, two more children and adult neighbor missing.

This photo provided by Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shows a helicopter arriving near mile 11 of the Zimovia Highway where ground teams, including search and rescue dogs, are actively working to search areas that state geologists have determined safe for entry Wednesday in Wrangell following a massive landslide earlier in the week. Three people have died and searchers looked Wednesday for three others who remain missing after a landslide ripped through a remote Alaska fishing community on Monday. (Willis Walunga/Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management via AP)

News

Officials begin clearing debris while 3 remain missing in Wrangell landslide that left 3 dead

WRANGELL — Searchers looking for three people who remain missing after a massive landslide that killed three others…

This image from video provided by Sunrise Aviation shows the landslide that occurred the previous evening near Wrangell on Monday. Authorities said at least one person died and others were believed missing after the large landslide roared down a mountaintop into the path of three homes. (Sunrise Aviation via AP)

News

Search continues for the missing after landslide leaves three dead in Wrangell

Searchers with heat-sensing drones and a cadaver-dog kept up the search Wednesday for three people missing in a…

Debris from a massive landslide on Monday night extends into the sea at mile 11 on Zimovia Highway in Wrangell. Three people were killed and three more people are missing as of 5:15 p.m. Tuesday by the landslide that impacted three single-family homes, according to officials. (U.S. Coast Guard)

News

Three people killed, three more people missing, in Wrangell landslide that hit three homes

Two adults, one juvenile dead; two juveniles, one adult missing Tuesday evening after Monday slide.