Alaska has declared a state of emergency.
First responders in Ketchikan, Alaska, are on high alert following a deadly incident that resulted in one fatality and three injuries, also causing a hillside to collapse on 25AUG.
NBC reports that a landslide in the southeastern Alaska town has buried several houses, and officials have warned of the potential for additional slides.
Mayor Dave Kiffer posted a statement, "In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude."
According to CruiseWeek, Carnival Corp. will continue to call on the port.
Photos taken after the landslide revealed a large area of a steep, densely forested hillside devoid of vegetation. A jumble of mangled, fallen pine trees and other debris was piled up against several buildings at the base of the incline.
Authorities stated that the area around the slide remained unstable. A potential secondary landslide zone was identified south of the original site, and emergency response teams were standing by, as reported by Reuters.
Cynna Gubatayao, an emergency operations center official, told Reuters by phone that Sunday's slide, which occurred at about 4 p.m., followed a day of heavy downpours. Forecasts called for showers to continue across the region through 26AUG.
The deadly slide occurred less than three weeks after over 100 homes in Alaska's capital, Juneau, were damaged by a burst of glacial flooding.
It is theorized that these events are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
