SITKA, Alaska — Emergency responders in Sitka are searching for three people missing after heavy rain caused landslides and at least one sinkhole to form Tuesday morning, Alaska Dispatch News reports.
The City and Borough of Sitka has declared a state of emergency after heavy rain triggered at least three different landslides on Tuesday.
The first 911 call about a landslide came it at 9:41 a.m. Tuesday, said Sitka Police Department Chief Sheldon Schmitt.
Emergency responders have been focusing their efforts on a landslide a couple of miles outside of Sitka. The landslide came down the side of a mountain and hit newly constructed houses below. A construction crew and city worker were all in the area of the landslide and have yet to be located, said Schmitt on Tuesday afternoon.
Another landslide reportedly destroyed part of a building, and flooding caused a sinkhole to form in the main area of the town.
Sitka resident Grace Roller told Alaska Dispatch News this is the most devastating landslide she has heard of in her 16 years of living in the area.
The National Weather Service reports that 1.4 inches of rain fell in Sitka in just three hours.
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