Juneau

Juneau’s Fred Meyer store closed yet again on Wednesday amid concerns about the heavy snow load on the roof following recent record-breaking snowstorms and cold temperatures. 

The closure began Tuesday evening when shoppers reported on social media that they were evacuated from the building. 

Tiffany Sanders, a spokesperson for Fred Meyer, said the closure is “out of an abundance of caution” while staff remove snow and address building maintenance. She did not say when the store would reopen.  

The store was already closed for multiple days last week due to concerns about the weight of the snow on the roof. The Fred Meyer gas station’s awning partially collapsed last week. Now, the station is partially reopened.

The recent heavy snow and rain in the capital city have caused several collapsed roofs across towns. On Tuesday, the roof of the Bill Ray Center, an empty building on F Street downtown, collapsed under the weight of the snow. 

Other businesses in Juneau have closed their doors as well. Nugget Mall has been closed since late last week due to safety concerns. That includes stores like Petco, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Office Max. 

“We are continuing to monitor snow load daily in coordination with structural engineers and qualified contractors,” the Nugget Mall owners wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. “Safety is and will remain the priority. That includes the safety of contractors, tenants, employees, and customers.”

The state also announced on Wednesday that the building that houses Juneau’s Department of Motor Vehicles was closed due to snow load concerns.

On Tuesday night, city and tribal leaders announced a joint disaster declaration and are asking for assistance from the state with snow removal.

The City and Borough of Juneau held a presentation at 4 p.m. Wednesday about the city’s disaster declaration and ongoing avalanche risk.

City, state and tribal staff shared information about the ongoing snowstorm response and the National Weather Service provided an update on the heavy rain expected to arrive later this week.

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.

The roof of the Bill Ray Center, an empty building on F Street in downtown Juneau, collapsed Tuesday following back-to-back snowstorms and rain.

Although Tuesday’s rain has melted some of the several feet of snow that’s accumulated over more than a week, dripping roofs can still hold a lot of weight.  

The warm-up has also caused roadways to pool with water due to poor drainage from snow and ice blocking storm drains. The snowpack is also becoming more dense and harder to move.

That’s made shoveling roofs more risky.

Spencer Goodwin is taking a break from his day job as a property manager to shovel roofs for as low as $1000 and up to $4000 for the biggest homes. He said that at first, he was in it for the cash. 

“Now, it’s become desperation to try to save buildings at this point,” he said.

He said his body aches after several days of shoveling, so now he’s coordinating crews with fresh arms. He had three men fly in from Anchorage Monday morning to help.  

It’s a dangerous job. Goodwin told KTOO that two members of his crew fell from a roof, but that they were alright. 

“As the snow gets heavier — and wetter — it becomes more slippery on the roofs, becomes a little bit more dangerous,” he said.

The work also goes slower. He said he’s been turning away requests because his crew just can’t fulfill them all.

At this point, it appears the market isn’t meeting the roof-clearing demand. Residents looking for help with roofs must decide whether to wait for someone who is licensed and insured, or take the risk of hiring someone who could potentially get injured or damage their property.

The National Weather Service estimates that a flat roof may currently be holding approximately 40.04 lbs. per square foot, based on ground measurements made Tuesday morning at the agency’s forecast office in Mendenhall Valley. 

Juneau emergency officials say that’s about the weight capacity for most homes built before 1991.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the National Weather Service’s measurement on Tuesday was for approximately how much snow is currently sitting on a flat roof. 

Dozens of Thunder Mountain Mobile Park residents weren’t able to use their showers or do laundry over the holidays and during recent snowstorms. 

Wright Services, the company that owns the park, said it won’t be able to repair the main water line until temperatures warm. And warm weather isn’t in the forecast any time soon. 

Tammy Jablonski said it’s making it hard to live her life. 

“I had, like, just a trickle come out,” she said. “Not enough to flush the toilet, not enough to, obviously, to take a shower or wash dishes or do anything else. Laundry, nothing.”

Jablonski has lived at the mobile park for more than 10 years. In 2020, the park lost water pressure during a cold spell, but it was resolved after a few days. This time, she said her water has been nothing but a trickle since Dec. 20. 

Wright Services General Manager David Crocker said some of the pipes that connect the main city water line to individual mobile homes are frozen. 

“Once it happens up at the top, where the connection is that the residents are responsible for, it can freeze them down into the main line and cause issues with people, other people in the park, other than just that one unit,” he said. “So we’ve been working diligently to try to identify where those issues are and take care of them.”

But, Crocker said, they can’t reach the main line with construction equipment because the ground is frozen. Instead, they are trying to trace the blockage by investigating each report. 

According to survey results Crocker shared, out of 89 residences, 60 initially had issues with low water pressure, and as of Monday, people in 11 residences reported the pressure had improved. 

When the pressure issues started, the company provided each resident with cases of water, two day passes to Juneau’s pools for showers, and portable toilets in the park.

But Jablonski said that the cases of water are long gone, the local pools have been closed sporadically, and the porta-potties immediately froze and are unusable.

She said she called Wright Services before the New Year to ask if there would be a rent reduction. Instead, she was charged the full amount, plus a rent increase that the company informed residents of before the water issues started.

“I never got a phone call back, and I have an auto payment for the park on my bank account, and it came out big as you please,” Jablonski said. “And it went up.” 

She said she hasn’t been hearing much from the company as this problem persists. When asked about rent reduction, Crocker told KTOO the company is focused on repairing the issue and declined to answer the question.  

The Alaska Landlords and Tenants Act says tenants can seek damages via lawsuits if services that should be provided in their leases aren’t. 

Jablonski said she and other residents just want running water again. 

“We are asking for help. We’re not trying to be demanding. We’re not being ugly,” she said. “We’re asking for basic services.”

In the meantime, the lack of water has taken a toll, Jablonski said. Especially on top of the historic amounts of snow. 

“I love a good snowstorm. But this one has handed my tail to me. The amount of money I’ve had to spend to get dug out, to help dig out myself, to get my roof cleaned off, to not be able to come in and take a hot shower and cook a good hot meal with hot water,” she said. “It’s like are you kidding me?” 

With another snowstorm descending, she worries that a fix won’t come any time soon. 

Residents of Juneau are living in a snow globe. Another winter storm began Sunday night, dropping more snow on top of the 4 feet that fell just after Christmas.  

City offices and facilities will remain closed Tuesday, as well as local schools.

During a break in the snow over the weekend, many residents prepared for the oncoming winter storm by digging out roofs, driveways and cars. 

As of Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported 6 inches to a foot of snow have fallen in Juneau during the ongoing storm.

Nicole Ferrin, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Juneau, expects more precipitation throughout the panhandle Tuesday, with a lot of variation depending on location. She said that although the temperature has risen above freezing in some areas, it hasn’t consistently changed over to rain. 

“We’re definitely seeing some unusual observations as far as temperatures right now,” she said on Monday afternoon. “Kake is up to 34 degrees, but they’re still snowing.”

Ferrin said that’s because it can still be cold enough in the clouds to produce snow. But she said the precipitation can switch back and forth. At this point, snow showers are expected to continue in Juneau through Tuesday. 

Juneau Harbormaster Matt Creswell said the city’s docks and harbors department brought on nine additional staff members, doubling the team, to clear snow and pump out boats. He said no more boats have sunk since last week, so far. 

“We feel like we’re finally catching up a little bit and getting our heads back above water,” he said.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has authorized the city to dump relatively clean snow into Gastineau Channel as operators run out of space on land. That does not include snow from highways, which has been polluted by salt and de-icing chemicals. 

The city also published a map of fire hydrants and storm drains on Monday. It also announced that residents can park for free in one of the city parking garages downtown in order to help clear the streets for plowing. 

The city is still tallying damages from the record snowfall. Part of the Fred Meyer gas station awning, at least one carport, and the roof of a martial arts dojo near the airport collapsed under the weight of the snowpack last week. 

Doug Murray has been the chief instructor at the dojo for a decade. 

“That’s a big blow,” he said of the cave-in. “If we go out and look elsewhere, you know, and for a place to rent, it’s most likely going to be three to four times the cost we were paying.”

He says the Dojo has been renting the building for more than 40 years. Now, the group is looking for another space to practice while the building owners assess the structure.

This story has been updated with school and city facility closures.