City and tribal leaders in Juneau announced a disaster declaration last night.
The declaration opens the doors for the city to request aid from the state. The mayor said that Gov. Mike Dunleavy has verbally approved the request and will send a state emergency management specialist Thursday.
Last week, the capital city was inundated with more than four feet of snow after prolonged cold temperatures. Then another storm hit beginning Sunday, with snow turning to rain on Tuesday. Now, the city is bracing for another storm expected to bring heavy rain this weekend.
In a joint letter, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson and Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon said both entities have exhausted their resources and need additional help.
The letter asks the state to assist by providing equipment and personnel to clear snow from the roofs of public buildings, fire hydrants and storm drains.
The heavy snow has collapsed some roofs across town and multiple boats have sunk at Juneau’s harbors.
Ryan O’Shaughnessy, the city’s emergency programs manager, said one of his main concerns is that the snow could collapse the roofs of public buildings like schools, water treatment plants and the hospital.
“We’ve been working really closely with our insurers, with our Engineering and Public Works Department and licensed engineers to determine the load on the roofs of critical facilities, and in many cases, we are approaching the designed snow load of those facilities,” he said.
Nicole Ferrin, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau, said the weight of snow on a flat roof could be around 41.6 pounds per square foot based on a ground measurement made Wednesday morning.
That’s increased by about a pound-and-half per square-foot since Tuesday.
“That measurement is for the back of the Valley,” Ferrin said. “Other parts of town had different amounts of snow and/or rain in the last week.”
She added that the pitch of a roof can also influence how much snow it’s holding.
The declaration letter also requests help with avalanche monitoring and mitigation. Multiple neighborhoods in the downtown area have been on alert for high avalanche risk since Dec. 30.
Officials from the city, Tlingit and Haida, National Weather Service, and Alaska Department of Transportation will hold a press briefing at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to share information about avalanche risk, the coming atmospheric river and state assistance. City officials said that representatives from the State of Alaska Emergency Operations Center will also be at the briefing.
The Assembly will hold a special meeting Wednesday evening at 5:15 p.m. to adopt a resolution officially approving the declaration.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
