Two heavy rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the upper valley last week, damaging infrastructure and leaving two residents temporarily trapped in their vehicle.

Strong winds whipped across Ketchikan Thursday evening and Friday morning, and a strong morning gust snapped power lines and severed Ketchikan’s connection to the Swan Lake hydropower reservoir.

Dozens more homes in Haines were evacuated Thursday night as rain continued to saturate the mountainsides near residential neighborhoods.

The region is prime landslide territory and a changing climate - trending toward warmer, rainier winters - is likely to increase the frequency of slides in the future.

In December of 2020 an atmospheric river brought heavy rains on top of a deep snowpack.