KetchikanTakes Stock of Landslide Damage

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Category: News

Created on Saturday, 31 August 2024 15:15

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Ketchikan (KDN) -- Site assessments and cleanup work continued in Ketchikan on Thursday, while preparations were being made for the arrival of another round of rainfall that was expected to start Friday and continue steadily through Sunday night. 

Early Thursday afternoon, Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski visited the Third Avenue Bypass and Second Avenue Neighborhood, both areas affected by Sunday’s large slide that killed one person and effectively severed the community’s two main cross-town thoroughfares.

Vehicle traffic and portions of the other main route -- Tongass Avenue -- slowed to a stop-and-go crawl at times Thursday due to factors that included the ongoing Alaska Department of Transportation road construction project on Tongass Avenue and traffic from the largest cruise ship visitation day of the week with more than 18,100 cruise passengers expected in Ketchikan on Thursday. 

Late Thursday morning, the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center published an announcement acknowledging that Tongass Avenue has been drastically impacted by the Third Avenue landslide. 

Part of the announcement said that local officials met with transportation companies and tour operators on Wednesday to look for solutions improving traffic flows.

“Tour companies are working on proactive solutions to reduce the number of vehicles using the main thoroughfare,” stated the EOC announcement. Other options are being sought for “park and ride-share locations north and south of town, parking solutions in the downtown corridor, additional traffic control and consolidated and alternate tour routes.”

One area of particular traffic concern is the effect on emergency responses. The EOC emphasized how vehicles in traffic could try to respond when an emergency vehicle on call coming through the construction area.

“It is critical that when emergency vehicles have lights on, vehicles must keep moving through the construction zone until there is a safe and large enough space to pull over to let the responders safely pass,” stated the EOC  Wednesday.

The EOC reported that DOT and Alaska Department of Natural Resources geological teams continued to take imagery of and assess the Third Avenue Bypass and Copper Ridge Lane landslide areas. 

Regarding Copper Ridge, the EOC reported that the “area is still being reviewed but was determined to pose no immediate threat to the property below.”

A meteorologist team from the National Weather Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was successful in setting up a rain gauge in the landslide area. Meteorologists and geologists have noted that rainfall amounts can be larger at higher elevations. 

Wednesday brought the first significant rainfall through the Ketchikan area since the Sunday landslide, with 0.71 inches recorded at the Ketchikan International Airport over the course of the day. No large-scale movement in the slide areas was reported.

According to the EOC, Ketchikan could see between 2 and 4 inches of precipitation between Friday and Tuesday. 

For potential use to help divert rainfall in the slide area, a team of National Guard members filled about 350 sandbags on Thursday. Also, pumps were being installed by the City of Ketchikan Public Works Department and a contractor on the Third Avenue Bypass. 

The borough plans to reopen its Whitecliff building next Tuesday. Meanwhile, borough services such as permits and payments can be accessed by phone during regular business hours on the borough website.

Ketchikan School District schools are scheduled to open on Tuesday.

City of Ketchikan and Ketchikan Public Utilities offices are open during regular hours. Ketchikan Public Library is remaining closed on Friday.

A mandatory evacuation order remains in effect for the portions of the Second Avenue area from Whitecliff Avenue to 2122 Second Avenue. 

All EOC announcements and other information related to the landslide are available on the borough website.