Officials say new barriers protected against the kind of major damage inflicted during last year’s destructive Suicide Basin release, though high water inundated numerous areas.

These floods, which began more than a decade ago, have become increasingly destructive in recent years and now pose a persistent summertime threat. This time, Alaska’s capital city fortified itself against the floodwaters.

One of Alaska's most populated cities is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding as a basin dammed within the Mendenhall Glacier has started to release water.