Alaskan homes are devoured by river in glacial break flooding

At least two homes in Juneau, Alaska, have collapsed into a raging river after a glacial collapse triggered flooding and a state of emergency at the capital.

Harrowing video capture by local resident Sam Nolan shows the Mendenhall River eating away at the shoreline until an entire two-story home plunges into the water.

The TikTok video opens with the river taking out a tree near the shore, with the house barely visible behind all the trees and foliage on Saturday.

The video then speeds up to show the entire greenery slowly succumbing to the flooding river until the house is the only thing left standing at the edge before it, too, eventually crashes into the water.

A nearby, three-story building can be seen about to experience the same fate as its foundation begins to crumble shortly afterward.

“It was really sad to see, but all we could do was stand there and watch,” Nolan told ABC News.

Along with the destroyed houses, officials said other buildings and roads that have never experienced flooding before have been hit by the rising waters over the weekend.  

Rob Barr, the deputy city manager of Juneau, added that “a handful” of residences are “significantly undermined” and are at risk of collapsing due to the flooding.

According to the National Weather Service, the flooding was caused by a break in the Suicide Basin, which released massive amounts of water into the Mendenhall Lake and River, spelling chaos for the Alaskan capital.

While the glacier has been causing flooding along the lake and river since 2011, Saturday’s burst led to a historic level of flooding in the area, with the city declaring a state of emergency.

The flooding led to major roads and bridges being shut down, with officials cutting the power to several areas until the flooding subsided Sunday evening.

Experts fear that continued melting of the glacier will lead to flooding becoming more common in the area.

The glacier is just one of many that connect to the Juneau Ice Field, a 1,500 square-mile remnant of the last ice age, according to the US Forest Service.