A landslide in the city of Ketchikan in extreme southeast Alaska has killed at least one person and injured at least three, local officials said.
It also prompted evacuation orders, damaged many homes and caused power outages, according to a statement from Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Dial and Dunleavy all issued disaster declarations.
Ketchikan, Alaska Gateway Borough
“I have instructed state agencies to make all resources and personnel available for the effort,” Dunleavy said.
A shelter was set up at Ketchikan High School, officials said.
A potential secondary landslide area was identified south of the original slide and crews were standing by, the statement added.
Various local and state agencies responded.
Google Maps
A homeland security and emergency management specialist and personnel from the federal Department of Transportation are expected to travel to Ketchikan on Monday, Dunleavy said.
“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I’ve never seen a slide of this magnitude,” Kiffer said in the statement, adding that “With the slides we’ve seen across the region, there’s clearly a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand with support by our state geologist The loss of life we have faced is heartbreaking, and my heart goes out to those who lost their homes.
All three people who were injured were taken to a local hospital, according to a statement from city officials. One was treated and released and the other two were admitted. Their conditions were not immediately known.
No one in Ketchikan was missing, the statement pointed out.