A southeast Alaska community wrestles with a deadly landslide's impact

Communities in southeast Alaska have long co-existed with landslide risks. Rain is a part of life there, with much of the region in the Tongass National Forest, a temperate rainforest. Thousands of landslides have been documented in the Tongass, going back decades, though relatively few have been fatal. But as the climate continues to warm, scientists say intense rains are expected to become more frequent in the region and other parts of the West Coast, heightening landslide risk. There have been three deadly landslides in southeast Alaska since 2015, most recently in Wrangell. In some ways, life there is returning to normal. But in others, recovery from the landslide, which claimed an entire family, is far from complete.