"Scientists Wary as Water And Ice Build Behind Glacier Dam Above Juneau"

"JUNEAU -- It's been pouring rain in Juneau lately, which has some people bracing for a new and unusual kind of flooding precipitated by climate change.

High above Juneau's populous Mendenhall Valley, Suicide Basin is filling with rainwater, snowmelt and ice, which is being held back by a dam of the Mendenhall Glacier.

Sometime soon, the water may come surging toward town.

Scientists studying the glacier say there are indications the dam will soon release and send billions of gallons of water surging toward the lake at the terminus of the glacier, then into the Mendenhall River."

Pat Forgey Reports for Alaska Dispatch News July 9, 2014.