Deadly Landslide Strikes Ketchikan, Alaska

A violent landslide has raced down a forested hillside in Ketchikan, Alaska, killing one person and injuring three.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude,” Dave Kiffer, the town’s mayor, said in a statement. “There is clearly a regionwide issue that we need to try to understand with the support of our state geologist.”

The disaster, which struck around 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, followed a period of unusually heavy rain known as an atmospheric river. Scientists said that intensifying rainfall, driven by climate change, could increase the risk of landslides in the area of Southeast Alaska that includes Ketchikan.

“There’s no single factor that seems to underline each of these events apart from a lot of moisture,” said Josh Roering, professor of earth sciences at the University of Oregon.

The landslide cut through a hillside and crashed into several homes at the top of town, a hilly fishing community of about 14,000 where cruise ships often dock. Four ships had been expected there on Monday.

Three people were transported to the Ketchikan Medical Center. One was treated and discharged and two were admitted, city officials said. The city hasn’t made public details about the person who died. An emergency shelter was opened at the local high school where a dozen people were staying as of Monday morning.