Juneau can’t stop the floods, but it’s learning to see them coming

Juneau, Alaska has flooded every summer since 2023, when meltwater and rain built up in a basin next to the Mendenhall Glacier and burst downstream, sending record-high water through riverside neighborhoods. Homeowners have described losing pianos, appliances, and insulation, with repair bills reaching $150,000 in one case and $35,000 in another. Scientists expect these glacial floods to keep coming back for decades, so the city and residents have shifted from treating each flood as a one-time disaster to preparing for a recurring one.

The main tool for that shift is a free online dashboard, launched in 2025, that translates glacier and river data into flood forecasts residents can actually use. More than 15,000 people checked it last year for real-time flood maps, water-level predictions, and explanations of how the basin fills and drains. Homeowners in the flood zone say it gives them enough lead time to move belongings, place sandbags, or evacuate before water arrives, and some check it daily or hourly during flood season. The city has also used the same flood data to decide where to install about 6 miles of temporary barriers, built with the Army Corps of Engineers, to shield homes along the Mendenhall River.

There's no fix that stops these floods outright, but Juneau's experience shows how better forecasting and public data can give homeowners in a repeat-disaster zone more warning and more control over protecting their property, whether the threat is glacial flooding, hurricanes, or river flooding elsewhere.