The City and Borough of Juneau and officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host two public meetings next week to share ideas for flood proofing houses.
Both events will take place in the Thunder Mountain Middle School auditorium.
During this August’s glacial outburst flood, nearly 300 homes in the Mendenhall Valley were damaged. Most took on water for the first time this year. And because there will likely be more outburst floods to come, many residents are looking for ideas to keep their houses dry next summer.
Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said next week’s events will cover a variety of topics, based on some of the common concerns he’s heard from community members.
“People have questions about what’s the best thing to do for their particular property and their particular circumstances when it comes to placing those sandbags, or, you know, reinstalling drywall,” he said, adding that people may have questions about water resistant drywall or raising their homes.
During the first event on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m., flooding experts will do a presentation on mitigation followed by a question and answer session. The event won’t be livestreamed, but a recording will be available online afterwards.
The second event is an open house on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. People are welcome to drop in and ask questions about their individual flood concerns.
Topics covered might include flood proof construction materials to use and advice about the proper placement of sandbags before flood events.