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Update, Nov. 26, 2023:

• 65-year-old Otto Florschutz
• 12-year-old Derek Heller

Original story:

The state Department of Public Safety has released the names of those killed in Monday night’s landslide near Wrangell.

The body of 16-year-old Mara Heller was recovered that night.  Her parents, 44-year-old Timothy Heller and 36-year-old Beth Heller, were recovered Tuesday.

Three Wrangell residents remain missing, including two more Heller siblings: 12-year-old Derek Heller and 11-year-old Kara Heller.

Otto Florschutz, 65, is also missing. Florschutz’s wife Christina Florschutz survived the slide and is recovering at the local hospital.

Next of kin have been notified.

Workers with the state Department of Transportation started to clear the landslide debris 11 miles south of town on Thursday. The slide, which is about 450 feet wide, came down across Zimovia Highway before it reached the water, destroying three homes and leaving about 75 without power. Many of the affected homes also lack phone and internet service.

DOT Spokesperson Shannon McCarthy says crews are removing debris from both sides of the slide.

“We’re working to restore the roadway,” she said. “That will allow people on the south side to get power again, and then also allow them to have emergency access.”

Search efforts have been ongoing since Monday night, with drones, helicopters, planes, K-9 teams and sonar.

State officials announced yesterday that teams have searched every place they can without the use of heavy machinery. The strategy is now moving from “an active search to a reactive one.”

“We have to move pretty deliberately because it is still a search and rescue situation,” McCarthy said. “We have a search dog team with their handler standing by so that we can stop should we, you know, need to resume rescue activities.”

McCarthy says the state is collaborating with local contractors to remove mud and downed trees from the roadway with heavy equipment. She says it’s a matter of days – not weeks – before they get a single lane of access across. And if they find evidence that anyone missing is in a specific area, an active search may be restarted.

The search for three people left missing by Monday’s landslide in Wrangell is now a reactive search rather than active search, Alaska State Troopers said Thursday. That means efforts to clear the roadway have started, but search and rescue teams will continue to look for people who may be buried in the mud as the clean-up progresses.

“While the active search is concluding, it remains a priority of the State of Alaska and your Alaska State Troopers to locate the three missing Alaskans so we can bring closure to their families and the community,” The Alaska Department of Public Safety wrote in a statement this afternoon.

Search and rescue crews have scanned all areas around the slide that are accessible without heavy machinery but did not find the missing people. Now, the goal is to create single lane road access so the power company can restore electricity for households south of the slide zone.

The names of the dead and missing will be made public on Friday.

Search teams have already recovered three dead — two adults and a child — and one survivor, a woman who was on the top floor of her hillside home when the slide came down late Monday night. She is currently receiving medical care, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

But three people — an adult and two children — are still missing.

While Alaska State Troopers are leading the search efforts, the team also includes local Wrangell police and firefighters, along with state personnel from the Alaska Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources.

Jeremy Zidek, public information officer for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said a state geologist made a helicopter flight over the slide site today to make sure it was stable enough for rescue teams.

“Everyday that landslide is changing,” Zidek said. “And when we’re sending crews out there we obviously want to do that work as quickly as possible, but we don’t want to add to the tragedy.”

Zidek also said a state emergency management expert is on the ground in Wrangell to help coordinate landslide response across state and local agencies.

At the slide site, search and rescue dogs will be searching atop the slide debris and from small boats along the shore where the slide ran off into the water.

“Every resource that the state has at its disposal, that is needed in a Wrangell, has been sent to Wrangell,” McDaniel said.

Monday’s region-wide storm in Southeast Alaska knocked out six U.S. Coast Guard Rescue VHF towers. That means the Coast Guard may not be able to pick up calls for distress on VHF channel 16 in certain parts of Southern Southeast.

Four towers — located on Zarembo, Gravina, Sukkwan, and Duke Islands — are back up and running, but the Coast Guard hasn’t declared them fully capable yet. The towers on Mount McArthur and Mount Robert Baron are still out of commission.

Aaron Hankins is the director of Fire and Emergency Medical Services in Petersburg. He’s helping coordinate the relief effort for a deadly landslide last night in Wrangell.

Hankins also cautions mariners in the region to avoid Sumner and Zimovia straits in order to clear the area for ongoing rescue operations. He says there’s also dangerous debris from the landslide floating in the water, which may not be immediately visible below the surface. That flotsam can damage or even sink small vessels.

Due to the potential gaps in coverage, the Coast Guard is relying on mariners and emergency responders in the region to notify them of mariners in need of help by calling (907)463-2980 if they hear an unanswered distress call on VHF channel 16.

Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska will post status updates on the disabled Southeast VHF radio towers online.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect name for Mount Robert Baron.

A blizzard brought high winds to downtown Juneau and several inches of snow to the Mendenhall Valley on Monday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Park said the Mendenhall Valley got 3 to 6 inches of snow and light wind. Meanwhile, downtown faced 60 to 70-mile-per-hour gusts.

“If you stayed in the Valley the whole day, you might have thought it was a beautiful winter wonderland day with not a whole lot going on,” he said. “As soon as you headed downtown, the story changed.”

Heavy winds damaged and ultimately sank a boat in Harris Harbor. Harbormaster Matthew Creswell said they’re working with the owner and U.S. Coast Guard on recovery efforts and pollution mitigation. 

“There doesn’t seem to be a big pollution threat from the vessel, but the potential is always there,” he said.

Electricians were in Douglas Harbor on Tuesday to restore power, which went out early Monday evening. As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, they were still working on it.

Creswell said harbor staff are working to remove snow from the Auke Bay and Statter Harbors.

Capital Transit buses will run on modified snow routes through Tuesday. There is no bus service on Franklin St. and Fourth St. downtown or on Cordova St. in Douglas.

More snow accumulated out the road. Park said residents from Lena to Tee Harbor reported 8 to 12 inches of snow. Snowfall in other Southeast communities also hit the double digits. Park said Gustavus residents reported 8 to 15 inches, and Hoonah and Angoon got at least 16 inches of snow. 

The National Weather Service expects snow to continue falling in Skagway, Haines and Klukwan until late Tuesday afternoon.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the forecast calls for rain through the rest of the week in Juneau. Wind gusts could get up to 35 miles per hour Tuesday afternoon, 30 miles per hour tonight and 20 miles per hour after midnight.

Snow isn’t in Juneau’s forecast again until Saturday morning.

A landslide outside of Wrangell late Monday killed three people, destroyed three homes and left three people still missing, according to state and local officials.

Searchers found a girl dead in the slide in an initial search after the first calls for help, but that search was paused for a time due to unsafe conditions and the possibility of further landslides, according to Alaska State Troopers. On Tuesday, searchers found a woman alive and rushed her to a hospital.

Later Tuesday, a drone operator discovered the bodies of two adults, which were recovered from the debris, troopers said.

Two children and one adult remained missing Tuesday night.

Alaska State Trooper spokesperson Austin McDaniel said Tuesday that troopers and other local, state and federal crews are still looking for survivors.

“This is very much still a search and rescue operation,” McDaniel said. “We are approaching it with that in mind, and I know that all of our teams on the ground both volunteer are looking at it with the same with the same lens.”

The names of the girl who died, the survivor, and the missing have not been made public.

Search and rescue efforts resumed this afternoon after geologists determined parts of the slide area were stable. But state geologist Barrett Salisbury, with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, said the rainy forecast means that stable areas could still shift more.

“It looks like there’s a lot of moisture in the next week,” he said. “And that’s not a great forecast for being in and around that area.”

The slide — which was about 500 feet wide where it crossed the road — also cut power to many homes and forced evacuations along the Zimovia Highway.

Local officials have urged between 20 and 30 people living near the landslide to evacuate the area with the help of the local fire department and water taxis. Evacuees are being housed in local hotels.

On Tuesday, the National Weather Service in Juneau told KSTK that just over three inches of rain fell in Wrangell during a 24-hour period beginning early Monday morning.

Salisbury said heavy rains can increase the already-present risk of landslides in Southeast Alaska.

“It’s virtually impossible to predict this kind of catastrophe,” he said. “But we do know that the risk of landslides — specifically this type of landslides known as a debris flow — the risk of a debris flow is present throughout Southeast Alaska where we have steep slopes. And we know that heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt, or otherwise, putting lots of moisture into the soil makes those risks greater.”

Salisbury said people in the area should be on high alert for sounds of rumbling or cracking trees, new springs of water, or physical changes to houses or property like swelling ground or shifting porches or foundations.

Zimovia Highway has been closed to the public from 6-Mile on, with the exception of local access. There’s no timeline for when people who live beyond the landslide might be able to return home.

There’s also no update on when power might be restored for approximately 75 homes without between 9 Mile and the end of Wrangell’s highway.

Wrangell Public Schools are canceled tomorrow. Evergreen Elementary School will be open between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to offer support services.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Tuesday morning that he had issued a verbal disaster declaration for the Wrangell landslide, adding that he and his wife were stunned by the damage.

“Rose and I are heartbroken by this disaster and we pray for the safety of all those on site and offer all the resources our state has available,” Dunleavy said.

Any missing persons unaccounted for in the slide area should be reported to Wrangell Police at 907-874-3304.

KSTK’s Colette Czarnecki and Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove contributed to this story.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Update, 5:30 p.m.

Strong winds of up to 60 miles an hour will continue to blow snow in Juneau before tapering off in the early hours on Tuesday. The strongest gust Monday — at a speed of 103 miles — was recorded at the junction of Chatham, Icy Strait and Lynn Canal.

By Tuesday morning, temperatures will warm slightly and snow will start to mix with rains. Commutes will likely be less hazardous, but conditions will remain slick.

Snowfall totals varied throughout Southeast. In Juneau, there were accumulations between 4 and 6 inches by Monday afternoon. Haines and Skagway saw up to 8 inches and Hoonah reported 21 inches. 

More snowfall tonight could push those totals up by several inches.

Original story:

A blizzard warning is in effect for Juneau until Tuesday morning. The storm could bring 9 to 14 inches of snow. Strong winds — with gusts up to 60 mph — will kick up snow and make travel hazardous.

Meteorologist Andrew Park with the National Weather Service office in Juneau said people should avoid travel on Monday if possible.  

“Take it slow, leave plenty of space,” Park said. “But this evening is definitely your window. Tomorrow it could get pretty wild out there.”

On Monday morning, NWS meteorologist Sean Jones said the storm was progressing as forecasted, and the weather would intensify through mid-day.

“Conditions are going to ramp up,” Jones said. “The worst of the snow hasn’t reached Juneau proper yet.”

Downtown Juneau and Thane lost power around 8:30 a.m. Monday. Alaska Electric Light and Power Company spokesperson Deb Driscoll said the outage was linked to the Second Street power station, and crews were responding, but there could be more outages throughout the day as the storm intensifies.

“I expect we’ll have many more today,” Driscoll said.

Schools and offices closing early

News of closures came in rapidly Monday morning as the storm worsened.

Around 10:30 a.m., the city announced it was closing downtown offices and facilities at 11 a.m. due to hazardous condition. The closures include the downtown branch of the Juneau Public Library, the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, the Treadwell Arena, the Permit Center and Zach Gordon Youth Center.

Juneau schools are closing early after opening as usual on Monday morning. A statement from the school district said that parents are welcome to pick their students up, and buses would begin bringing children home after lunch. Elementary schools will close at 1:00 p.m., middle schools at 1:30 p.m. and high schools at 2:15 p.m.

All after-school activities and the RALLY program are cancelled.

The University of Alaska Southeast also announced campus buildings would close at 1 p.m. Monday. They expect to reopen Tuesday.

City buses in Juneau will be on modified winter routes at least through Monday. Capital Transit posted on their website that all riders should expect delays, and there is no service on Cordova St., Franklin St. and Fourth St.

State offices in Juneau are closed as well.

By Tuesday morning in Juneau, the snow should begin to mix with rain, which could create icy conditions that will persist through the week. 

Gustavus, Haines and Skagway could also see snowfall in the double digits, starting on Monday morning. A winter storm warning is in effect for those communities, but milder winds will make blizzard hazards less likely.  

For the southern panhandle, from Ketchikan to Prince of Wales Island, major snowfall is less likely, but strong winds could pose a threat. There’s the potential for power outages, downed trees and damage to boats that are not secured properly.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, the strongest wind reported was an 82 mph gust at Cape Spencer.

The National Weather Service will continue to update their forecasts as the storm picks up.

Editor’s note: We will keep updating this story as the storm progresses.