Digital Bob Archive

Juneau is fairly used to rain, even heavy rain, but it was not prepared for the deluge that descended on the town and the surrounding area the last week of September, 1918.

The rain did not start on Wednesday, September 25, but it intensified then, and in a 24-hour period Wednesday night and Thursday morning a total of 6.32 inches fell. And it didn't stop then.

Gold Creek, at that time unconfined by a flume as it passed through town, went on a rampage. Six dwellings along the lower part of the creek were swept away; dozens of homes in that part of town were flooded. Many had several feet of water in them, and losses in that area alone were estimated at $100,000. Members of the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department and the Alaska Home Guard assisted householders in saving their possessions.

The two-story Alaska Native Service Hospital, which stood on the present parking lot of the Federal Building, had its lower floor completely flooded. The water rose so fast that there had been no chance to remove patients and for a time it appeared that there might be danger to some lives. Then Johnny Harris, son of one of the founders of the town, showed up with a canoe and began moving patients to high ground. Others joined in and before long all the patients had been removed to St. Ann's Hospital or other places of safety.

Out the road, the Lemon Creek bridge was damaged and the Mendenhall River bridge was swept away entirely. Both the Basin Road, which carried traffic to the Perseverance Mine, and the Thane Road were blocked by slides.

A number of houses along Gastineau Avenue were demolished or heavily damaged by slides. Rooms on the second floor of the Gastineau Hotel were flooded when a slide piled up against the back of the building, and for a time the main stairway of the hotel was a cascade of water.

The flood in Gold Creek carried away the flume of the Alaska Electric Light & Power Company, partly flooded the power plant and put out all the lights in town. Neither The Alaska Daily Empire nor The Alaska Dispatch were able to publish on Thursday or Friday. The Empire got out an edition on Saturday, the 28th; the Dispatch did not publish until the following Monday.

The Alaska Juneau Gold Mine was forced to shut down because slides broke its power lines. Flumes and other property were destroyed and the miners got an unexpected, and unwelcomed, weeks' vacation. Loss to the mine was placed at $50,000 and the Ebner Mine, in Last Chance Basin, had losses of $5,000. Damage along Gastineau Avenue was placed at $25,000, and the A.E.L. & P. Company losses amounted to $10,000. The Juneau Water Company losses were $8,000 and damage to roads was placed at $7,000. The total was estimated at $250,000 - in 1918 dollars. The figure today would be in the millions.

But with all that, there was no loss of life. Juneau cleaned up, dried out, repaired the damage, and went on about its business.