Search & Rescue

Some fifty families are displaced in Haines due to mudslides and evacuations. Every hotel in town was full over the weekend. Except one: the 60-room Hotel Halsingland, closed for the last year and a half and currently for sale.

Rain turned to snow Saturday afternoon in Haines, but that didn’t deter dozens of volunteers and former employees from opening the century-old hotel in the dead of winter. They chopped wood. They dusted, disinfected and vacuumed. They fluffed pillows.

Gina Randles manned the front desk while a volunteer chopped wood to feed the stove that warms the lobby.

“Oh today has been hectic. It has been amazing, though,” she said. “We decided we were going to open up some of the buildings here to try and get people in so that they’ve got places to stay. And I put the word out that I needed volunteers and an army showed up.”

The hotel is typically open seasonally for tourists. Owner Jeff Butcher is in the Lower 48, but he and his wife plan to be in Haines on the next ferry, scheduled to arrive Tuesday.

“We didn’t open this summer,” he said. “But I guess we’re opening this winter instead.”

Butcher said he is working directly with the borough Emergency Operations Center rather than opening the reservation line directly.

“This is pretty, pretty terrible. And we’re happy to do what we can to help,” he said. “And if someone thinks that we can be of assistance in another way, feel free to contact me. We’re glad to help wherever we can. And however we can.”

The rooms were ready for guests by mid-afternoon on Saturday, but a few maintenance volunteers worked into the evening. Under the guidance of a long-time former employee, volunteer Nolan Woodard helped coax the hundred year old hotel’s plumbing and heating to life.

Woodard works as a carpenter, so he says he’s been careful to ask for help so he doesn’t break anything.

“[I’m] just kind of helping and trying to give support to the people who actually know what’s going on and gather up some crews that are just you know, hammer swing and dudes that are ready to help and fix and just kind of be there if we could be supportive,” he said.

He said so far there aren’t any major issues, despite the challenge of jump-starting an old system in freezing weather.

Upstairs, former employee Brandi Peters ran a final check of toiletries, bedding, plumbing and lightbulbs before shutting off the lights for the evening.

On Sunday, volunteers scrambled to open another of the hotel’s buildings— the borough issued an evacuation warning that could displace a roughly a third of the town if the experts determine that the conditions are right for another big landslide.

Haines’ high school gym has been converted into an evacuation center. It has enough cots for 50 people in it, but no one has moved in yet. 

On Saturday night, Haines city officials put out a warning that people living on the mountainside overlooking downtown should be prepared to pack a bag and flee from landslides. But by Sunday afternoon, only two families had to evacuate their homes.

“We did that because we got information that geologically … there is an aquifer that underlies all of that that has some pressure building that we’re trying to watch,” said interim Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton during a Sunday press briefing. 

She said there has been some pushback about that evacuation watch notice. It covers a large area, by some estimates nearly one-third of the town lives on that hillside. 

“Certainly it’s not our intent to scare people,” she said. “We do need people to be informed. We do need people to be ready and prepared and we made the decision that knowledge and keeping people informed was more important — even if it feels a bit scary — so that people can make their own decision.”

Residents woke up to a thick crust of ice on top of several inches of snow Sunday morning — and rained on and off for most of the day. 

That complicated the efforts of city and state crews that have been working to clear roads of landslides and debris, because most of them spent the morning clearing snow before they could get to work. 

Despite the weather, two helicopters were able to get into the air. 

One helped with the search effort for a Haines businessman and his tenant, a local kindergarten teacher, who were caught up in a  landslide on Wednesday and have been missing since. 

The 600-foot landslide is still thought to be dangerously unstable and ground crews have been unable to get too far onto it.

“We continue to hope, we continue to search. I think we continue that until we can’t,” Fullerton said. “So we’re not going to give up.”

The other helicopter had geotechnical experts on board who are helping the city determine whether any of the 50 families who have evacuated can safely return home. 

Fullerton and Haines Mayor Doug Olerud didn’t share any information about when that might happen yet. But, they are bringing city and state experts to talk to evacuees on Sunday evening. 

Fullerton said she knows evacuees are hungry for information. 

That’s a sentiment Dawn Woodard echoes from her room at the Captain’s Choice Motel in downtown Haines.  

As she pet her 156-pound malamute named Gooch, who was rescued after she was evacuated, she explained that she and her neighbors are worried about their homes. They don’t currently have power and while the cold temperatures mean that the food in her chest freezers is less likely to spoil — it also means that her pipes could freeze.

But, she assumes she’s going to be out of her home for a long time. 

Department of Transportation Superintendent Scott Gray said the damage to streets and culverts and hillsides in town is “catastrophic.” He said crews will do what they can to patch roads long enough for them to hold through the winter, but points out that several areas are still in danger of sliding again so that work is ongoing. 

Fullerton, the borough manager, said at least 100 volunteers have registered to be on-call to help. Some of them were flagging for road crews on Sunday, while others were on foot helping with search and rescue efforts. Still others helped open another hotel to house more evacuees and volunteers. 

A state ferry arrived Sunday afternoon with more supplies and people ready to get to work. 

But, first things first, Fullerton said the Haines Borough police department and shuttles were waiting to meet the ferry to take everyone that disembarked to be tested for COVID-19. 

Updated post — Dec. 5 9:30 p.m.

For a few hours on Saturday morning, the rain in Haines slowed to a light drizzle and the clouds retreated.

During a morning press briefing Interim City Manager Alekka Fullerton said city had a “window of opportunity,” because it was going to get a lot harder to clean up the damage from record-breaking rainfall and dozens of landslides that ravaged the town earlier this week.

During that good-weather window, search and rescue teams took off for their fourth day of looking for two missing residents, whose home was caught up in a 600-foot landslide on Wednesday.

And residents like Lin Edgar got to work cleaning up their flooded homes. Edgar had eight trucks and nearly twenty people show up at her house at first light to help rip up her carpet, dry out her floors and cut away sheetrock damaged from nearly two-feet of water that inundated her home.

“Several days worth of work was done in a matter of minutes,” said Jason Eson who was helping to supervise the cleanup. “Haines makes it happen.”

City and state crews worked to clear roads blocked by dozens of landslides and to bury exposed water lines.

“If they don’t get those covered up, they’re going to freeze and break and then we’ve got a bigger event there that we’re dealing with,” said Mayor Doug Olerud.

At the Chilkoot Indian Association building in downtown a crew rushed to piece together a large metal framed tent to house supplies bought locally and sent from other communities like Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes in Juneau.

And, a group of state geologists finally managed to take off in a helicopter to fly over some of the evacuated neighborhoods in town — an effort that could eventually lead to some of the towns’ 50 displaced families returning home.

But, by mid-afternoon that window had slammed shut when clouds descended, forcing the helicopter to land early. The geologists said they want to study their photos before making any calls as to whether some residents can return to their homes.

Temperatures dropped, and by nightfall the town was blanketed in nearly a foot of snow.

Fullerton said that makes almost everything harder. “The more snow we have, the harder it is to search,” she said Saturday evening. “The added concern is a lot of these houses that they’re evacuating from have not been winterized, because they had to leave very quickly. It’s just one thing after another.”

There are a lot of people in town who are scared. One woman asked Fullerton during an afternoon meeting with evacuees if Haines was a safe place to be right now. She said there is a lot of anxiety in the community and it’s not clear when people will relax again.

“You get up every morning. You do it. I mean, what’s the alternative?” she said. “Get up every morning. Do what needs to be done. Do it all day long and then you go to bed. And then you get up the next day, you do the same thing. And at some point it gets better and easier.”

It’s supposed to start raining on Monday, that could mean more flooding, more unstable ground. Late Saturday evening, Mayor Olerud warned residents in another area of town to be ready to evacuate.

Original post — Dec. 5, 2:20 p.m.

On Saturday Governor Mike Dunleavy released his signed disaster declaration for this week’s damaging storms in Southeast Alaska, while the search continued in Haines for two residents missing since Wednesday’s devastating mudslides.

The hillside along Beach Road, where local business leader David Simmons, 30, and kindergarten teacher Jenae Larson, 23, lived, gave way on Wednesday. Their home was destroyed and the two have been missing since then. State geologists on Saturday said the ground there was too unstable and recommended that search crews stay away from the slide zone. There’s still a risk of another landmass coming down in the area.

A K-9 unit from Juneau called SEADOGS was able to search the bottom of the slide along the beach. Those teams are equipped with radar that can determine how deep the debris pile is. A helicopter in Juneau has been fitted with specialized equipment to photograph the slide zone, but it’s not clear if any flights were able to make it into town during the brief good-weather window.

The geologists are also assessing slide risk zones in other parts of town. They’re hoping to clear some areas so that some people who have been evacuated can head home. There are at least fifty displaced families —roughly 10% of the town’s population.

Mayor Doug Olerud gave an update to evacuees on Saturday, telling the community that state geotechnical experts advise against anyone searching landslide areas by foot until four days after the rain stops.

“We know that’s not what you want to hear,” he said, while heavy rain continued to fall outside.

Meanwhile, local road crews scrambled to clear and repair roadways before the heavy snowfall started again Saturday afternoon. Every single hotel in Haines is full and the school gym has been turned into an emergency shelter with cots ready for anyone who needs a place to sleep.

Rashah McChesney contributed to this story. It is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story listed the wrong last name for Jenae Larson and the wrong date for when she disappeared, it was Wednesday.  

Updated story — Dec. 4, 5:00 p.m.

After a second full day of combing beaches and debris from a landslide for any sign of two missing Haines residents, search and rescue teams are still hopeful they’ll find the two alive.

Interim Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton says the tight-knit community is working together to respond to the disaster, but it’s a strain.

“Someone asked me earlier if I knew the two people missing and of course I know the two people missing,” she said. “One is one of my youngest daughters best friends and … it’s hard.”

The search for Jenae Larson and David Simmons was delayed at first light Friday because poor weather prevented search flights from taking off.

State geologists arrived on the ferry Friday morning. It was the first ferry into the community after devastating rain and landslides earlier this week. The team says their first priority is to find out which areas are stable enough to search, and which aren’t.

Help has poured in from all over the state. City officials say they’ve had crews and equipment sent from Juneau, and they’ve heard from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office several times.

“The Minister of Transportation from the Yukon has offered to send down equipment, because as you know we’re only 40 miles from the Canadian Border. And so they’ve offered to bring heavy equipment down to help us as well. They haven’t because we’ve told them to hold off, we’re still in a position where there’s still damage being done,” she said.

Fullerton says one of the hardest things to handle this week has been the “overlapping emergencies.” The town needs help dealing with flooding, mudslides and search and rescue operations, but they’re also worried about the ongoing pandemic. Everybody who came into the town from the ferry was required to get a rapid test for COVID-19 before they could get to work.

“We have zero active cases of COVID right now and bringing all of these outside resources into our town, we’re very worried about introducing COVID here as well,” she said.

Meanwhile at least 50 households have been evacuated.

Volunteers gathered Friday at the Haines Public Safety Building, which is being used as an Emergency Operations Center. They say they’ll show up again on Saturday around 7:00 a.m., waiting to be told what to do and where to go to continue to help.

Original story — Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m.

Light snow fell early Friday morning as the search continued for two Haines residents missing after a mudslide crashed through residences along Beach Road.

Haines Fire Chief Al Giddings says over one hundred volunteers have reported to the Public Safety building to aid in the search and community recovery.

Two teams searched debris that washed onto miles of shoreline north of the slide. Juneau Mountain Rescue and two dog teams stand by at the slide site, waiting for the green light from geologists to begin the land search.

Meanwhile, Haines Harbor and the Coast Guard will be on the water.

“They’re going to start looking at the foot or the toe of the slide area,” said Giddings. “And they may have to pull them logs away to clear the feature area.”

A Coast Guard boat with four crew is scheduled to arrive in Haines Friday morning.

The state ferry LeConte is also on its way up from Juneau. It’s the first ferry to sail to Haines since the landslides and is loaded with equipment to help with relief efforts. It’s also carrying the state geologists needed to assess the slide area for ground crews to begin searching.

This story has been updated.

Dozens more homes in Haines were evacuated Thursday night as rain continued to saturate the mountainsides near residential neighborhoods.

An emergency alert popped up on people’s cell phones in Haines just after 8 p.m. Thursday night. It had been raining all day and continued to rain into the evening.

Mudslides had already swept away houses and left two people missing, and officials feared there would be more slides as the rain kept coming down.

“It sounded like when three feet of snow comes off your roof — that same little rumble,”said resident David Rickey.

He was on the phone with a friend when his neighborhood was evacuated. Lights flashed outside and a Haines Borough police officer rapped on his door.

“I’m not sure how he phrased it,” said Rickey, “But the tone of his voice said ‘get the heck out of here’.”

He and his neighbors spent the night in hotels after reporting to the American Legion Hall where an army of volunteers is helping connect evacuees with shelter. Plastic pop-up tables are piled high with clothing, toiletries, and food. It’s almost too warm inside and smells like coffee.

Haines school teacher Rebecca McCoy helped set up a space for displaced kids to decompress. Kids are playing ping pong and air hockey.

“So there’s room to run around,” she said. “We’ve been trying to find stuffed animals. And as kids come in, they can get something to hug and hold.”

Other teachers from the district have been visiting during the day. Counselors are on site for anyone who needs to talk.

“There is no shame and any of what you’re going through right now, period,” said SEARHC counselor Kelly Williamsen. “So if you need to talk…we’ve got this. This is what we’re here for right now.”

Back-up counselors are coming this weekend from Juneau to help support the school.

Mayor Douglas Olerud was on hand at the hall to give an update.

Olerud was born and raised in Haines; he runs the family grocery and sporting goods store with his sister. He says it’s hard to take the emotion out of the job when friends are missing and displaced.

“It’s tough. You gotta keep doing the job, but we’re making it. We’ve got a lot of good people supporting us over there… and, you know, a good cry a few times a day helps,” he said.

He had some errands between town updates and a press conference, and one important pit stop.

“I’m going to try and hike up my parents road and go get a hug from my mom and dad,” he said. “And I’m sure that’ll help as well.”

After the meeting, displaced resident Arthur Woodard and his 160-pound malamute headed back towards their hotel room. A rescue boat picked the Woodards off a sandy shore below their Beach Road home on Wednesday. They were reunited with their dog Friday morning after a pet rescue boat found him on the beach.

“The whole community has been such a blessing,” said Woodward. “I mean, my gosh, they evacuated us, they check in, made sure that we were healthy. And it was just very thorough.”

There was even donated pet food.

Rain and snow are predicted to continue into next week.There is a winter weather advisory in Haines through Saturday afternoon.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on social media on Thursday afternoon that he’s making a disaster declaration following destructive landslides in and around Haines.

“More resources & assistance are on the way for the people of Haines,” he tweeted.

In a separate tweet, the governor said he’d been in touch with Haines officials.

“Every state resource will be made available to the people of Haines in their time of need,” he wrote.

There are still two missing residents. Four of the six people thought to be missing on Wednesday were accounted for Thursday morning. But Jenae Larson and David Simmons have been missing since Wednesday afternoon’s mudslide. They lived at the same Beach Road property now buried in rock, mud and debris.

David Simmons was hired earlier this year to be the Executive Director of the Haines Economic Corporation. He also runs a shuttle business for tourists in the summer months.

His father, Randall Simmons, spoke to him about two hours before the landslide.

“He called me and just was letting me know that there’s a lot of rain going on… And I said, ‘Thank God you’re up in them in the hills are not down where the flooding is going to be.’ And I figured he was safe. This could be you know, up up the road there,” he said.

He got the call from David’s girlfriend, Libby Jacobson, just hours later to say the structures had been swept away and his son was missing.

His father says David is fluent in several languages and has traveled the world, but fell in love with Haines after visiting his cousin.

“Of all the places and around the entire world, Haines was his home forever,” his father said Thursday afternoon.

Jenae Larson is a “beloved kindergarten teacher” at Haines Elementary School, says Roy Getchell, superintendent of schools. She graduated from Haines High School in 2016 and was hired as a teacher by the school district this year.

“She’s somebody that kids look up to, and somebody that colleagues, you know, especially even though she’s young, somebody that her colleagues look up to as well for her, just positive nature and her wisdom and and truthfully are just amazement and in how well she’s done as a brand new teacher this year,” Getchell said.

“Our best hopes, wishes and prayers are with the responders and with the folks that they’re searching for, including Jenae,” he said. “And we love her and want to see her come home for sure. She’s an amazing, amazing person.”

Juneau Economic Development Council Executive Director Brian Holst says he’s worked closely with Simmons in recent months helping the region weather the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. He says Simmons helped spearhead a drive to encourage Haines residents to shop locally and support struggling small businesses in town.

“David is a pleasure to work with, really smart, energetic, also doing some clever, some good work in Haines,” Holst said Thursday. “I know he’s a strong, capable person. So I just am holding out hope that all is well for him.”

As darkness fell around 3:00 p.m. Thursday, Haines Mayor Douglas Olerud announced the search would be suspended until morning light.

The ongoing recovery is supplemented by firefighters from across Southeast Alaska, U.S. Coast Guard personnel and first responders from state agencies. Haines Borough has declared a local disaster with dozens displaced and roads blocked by flooding and debris. With saturated ground from record rainfall, a Flash Flood Watch remains in effect across all of Haines and Skagway until at least Friday afternoon.

This story has been updated. CoastAlaska’s Jacob Resneck contributed to this story.