Juneau resident catches avalanche, waterfalls on phone

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Carole Triem heard an unusual sound when she left an indoor swimming pool in downtown Juneau after her Friday morning workout.

She thought she heard thunder, “which is strange because we don’t get thunder here in Juneau.’’

Instead, what she heard was an avalanche beginning its cascade down Mount Juneau.’

An avalanche in Alaska’s capital city isn’t an unusual event after several this year. But what was different for Triem, she said, was that she was able to pull her phone out and capture most of it on a 70-second video.

“I looked up, and I think I caught the very beginning of it,’’ she said. “I think I got pretty lucky.’’

She didn’t feel like she was in any danger since she was far enough away from it, and didn’t feel a whoosh of air from the avalanche.

“I couldn’t feel anything different from where I was standing, just normal cold and wet,’’ she said of Juneau’s typical weather.

Juneau Police Lt. David Campbell said there were no injuries. He said the tail end of the avalanche might have hit a fence and a parked vehicle, but no homes were struck in this southeast Alaska city sandwiched by mountains and the ocean.

Triem caught not only the avalanche on video, but also more moisture this time in the form of waterfalls that followed the snow down the mountain.

 

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