Three dead after landslide in Alaska Town

Three people, including a girl, were killed and three others were missing after a landslide hit homes in southeastern Alaska this week, authorities said.

The landslide occurred around 9 p.m. local time on Monday in Wrangell, Alaska, where “the slide covered and effectively closed the Zimovia Highway” at the 11th mile marker, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said. said Tuesday.

The slide was estimated to be 450 feet wide when it crossed the roadway and struck three single-family homes. It remained active until Monday evening, causing road closures, authorities said.

Wrangell is a coastal community of 2,000 in southeastern Alaska.

Rescue crews found the body of a girl during the initial search and a drone operator found the bodies of two adults Tuesday afternoon, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said.

Austin McDaniel, a department spokesman, said Wednesday that one adult and two juveniles were still missing in the area of ​​the landslide. Their ages have not been released.

Alaska State Troopers led search and rescue efforts with assistance from other agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Forest Service. Dog teams also searched the area.

Mr McDaniel said crews rescued a woman on Tuesday who was in good condition and receiving medical care.

Officials asked the public to stay away from the slide area due to the unstable slope conditions. Local residents have been asked to evacuate.

“This is certainly a difficult time for our community, but as always, this little town of ours has come together and shown quite a bit of resilience,” Mason Villarama, Wrangell’s interim city manager, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy spoke on Tuesday issued a disaster declaration in Wrangell, saying he and his wife were “heartbroken by this disaster.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on social media that he had spoken to the Alaska congressional delegation about the landslide.

Peter Boyd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau, Alaska, said a total of 1.2 inches of rain fell at nearby Wrangell Airport in the six hours before the landslide.

“It was a very intense period of rainfall, and winds in the area were gusting up to 120 kilometers per hour,” he said on Wednesday.

The Weather Service said more rain was expected in southeastern Alaska by Thursday morning and widespread rain was also forecast over the weekend.