Residents in Alaska capital clean up swamped homes after an ice dam burst and unleashed a flood

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Residents in Alaska’s capital are clearing out waterlogged homes after a lake dammed by the picturesque Mendenhall Glacier gave way. It caused the worst flooding in the city yet from what has become a yearly phenomenon. At least 100 homes and some businesses were damaged by rapidly rising floodwaters in the overnight hours Tuesday. Cars floated in chest-high water as people scrambled to evacuate. The waters have now receded, and the river level is falling. The flooding happened because a smaller glacier nearby retreated more than a decade ago, a casualty of the warming climate. That left a basin that fills with rainwater and snowmelt each summer. When the water creates enough pressure, it forces its way under or around the ice dam.