Juneau assembly declares local emergency after glacier outburst flood, requests state aid

The Juneau City and Borough Assembly on Aug. 15 adopted Resolution 4027, declaring a local emergency in response to the 2025 glacier outburst flood and formally requesting state assistance.

Manager Kester told the assembly the manager’s disaster declaration issued Aug. 8 is confirmed by the resolution and that the city has already relied on a pre-disaster declaration from the governor that opened both state public assistance and individual assistance. Assembly Member Bryson moved adoption and asked for unanimous consent; with no objections the resolution was adopted.

The declaration was followed by a briefing from the city’s emergency operations center. CBJ Emergency Manager Ryan O’Shaughnessy and Public Safety Manager and co-incident commander Sabrina Grubitz described a multiagency response that included the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Tlingit and Haida, and volunteer organizations.

Officials said the flood crest measured just under 16.75 feet (reported as 16.6 feet) and that HESCO barriers largely held, preventing the widespread destruction seen during past events. “The HESCO barriers really did do their job and protect most, but not all of our residents,” Manager Kester said, adding that the barriers experienced seepage in places and suffered tree-strike damage that required field repairs using SuperSaks and pumped dewatering behind Meander Way.

City damage assessments, using FEMA categories, found no homes classified as destroyed; 16 homes were classified as affected (water in garages or crawlspaces), 25 homes were classified as minor (water in living areas that did not reach electrical outlets), and 6 homes were classified as major (water in living areas that exceeded the electrical-outlet threshold but remained on the first floor). Emergency staff reported the highest amount of water behind barriers reached about 2 feet in one location on the east end of the race.

Officials said about 50 people were staffing the emergency operations center at any given time and roughly 150 personnel were deployed in the field over the event, including tribal, city, state and federal partners. Floyd Dryden was opened as an emergency shelter; seven people used that site and most others sheltered with friends and family. The city also set up a flood information hotline that logged more than 100 calls to route nonemergency questions away from 911.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deployed a senior team to Juneau; Manager Kester said Brigadier General Goetz was on site and that the Army Corps has committed continued support. Manager Kester also said the city had continuous drone footage gathered by Alaska Department of Transportation with three drone teams and thermal imaging, and that analysis of that footage will be used with field inspections to produce high-water-mark data.

Infrastructure impacts included damage to the Back Loop bridge abutment (DOT is assessing repairs and timing), a downed fiber-optic cable affecting Internet service in parts of View Drive, Meander Way and Back Loop, and a damaged water line that did not cut service to customers. Several assembly members raised concerns about cell service outages in affected neighborhoods; city staff said the fiber line carries that traffic and restoration work on the cable was expected to restore service as crews complete repairs.

City staff described next steps as a two-part effort: near-term repairs, debris removal and a cost estimate for maintaining the temporary HESCO barriers; and a longer-term solution to replace the temporary barriers with permanent infrastructure where appropriate. Manager Kester said the HESCO barriers demonstrated effectiveness but are not permanent infrastructure and that the city will return to the assembly with a Phase 2 recommendation and estimated costs.

United Way and the VOAD partners have stood up an incident command post at Malvern Park to coordinate muck-out, cleanup and volunteer support; staff said those partners have helped at least eight families remove wet insulation and vapor barriers so far and are coordinating food and volunteer assistance. Debris management operations, including right-of-way debris pickup, will begin Monday morning with additional site-specific coordination for homeowners who need more time.

Manager Kester and O’Shaughnessy said the city will continue to coordinate with the congressional delegation; Senator Sullivan was scheduled for a briefing the following day, and contacts had been made with offices of Senator Murkowski and Congressman Begich about later visits. The manager also noted extensive national and international news coverage of the event and thanked staff and partner agencies for the response and planning that reduced impacts compared with prior years.

The assembly adjourned after the briefing; officials said the public will have an opportunity for further briefings and comment at a Monday meeting where staff will present more detailed damage maps and a Phase 2 plan.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 4027 — Motion to adopt Resolution 4027 (local emergency declaration and request for state assistance). Mover: Assembly Member Bryson. Adoption method: unanimous consent; no roll-call vote recorded in the transcript. Outcome: approved.