JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON -- Last week, representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers joined staff from the City and Borough of Juneau, Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and other organizations to conduct flood response training in preparation for the next Mendenhall glacial lake outburst event this summer, also known as a GLOF.
Between April 14-17, the attendees participated in hands-on exercises with flood response equipment from the USACE – Rock Island District’s National Flood Fight Materiel Center, toured the areas of flood barrier construction as well as discussed potential scenarios and responsibilities during the event. Specifically, the training focused on synchronizing staff knowledge amongst stakeholders for field operations prior to and after a flood event in the Mendenhall Valley.
“We are training to build upon the readiness, technical proficiency, and mental resilience of our staff and amongst stakeholders for what the community already knows will be an intense multi-day GLOF event,” said Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District. “We’re committed to working fully aligned with our local, state, tribal and federal partners to mitigate flooding now and in the future, to better protect the people and infrastructure along the Mendenhall River.”
Part of the training involved learning how to use the mechanized sandbag machine and an industrial-sized water pump as well as covering best practices when filling sandbags by hand. Just prior to the training session, USACE sent the sandbag machine along with 112,500 sandbags, 12 of the large water pumps and additional flood mitigation barriers.
Another flood response training session will be available for the public in July.
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Release no. 26-004