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.
