The first time Big Eagle and I visited Haines, Alaska was in July of 2009. Our son Danny was working there as a glacier tour guide. I took this picture of Big Eagle back then near the small boat harbor.
Today the beautiful, quaint community of Haines is in trouble. They’ve had a large amount of snow followed by relentless rain. Last Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, this mudslide occurred, destroying all of the homes in its path:
Two people who lived in one of those homes are still missing. One a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher and the other a 30-year-old business leader. There has been wide-spread flooding. Many residents have been displaced, and more evacuation orders are possible, as the rain continues. There have been flash flood warnings issued through tomorrow evening.
Haines is a community of about 2,000 people located in the Alaska Panhandle. Big Eagle and I have traveled there three times: in 2009 for the first time, then in 2017 for a friend’s wedding, and the last time we were there was August of 2019 for our son’s wedding. You can read my post about the wedding weekend here.
In 2009, we were there on the 4th of July and had the pleasure of witnessing the town’s old-fashioned 4th of July parade and festival.
One day while we were there, Big Eagle and I hiked the Battery Point trail on the west end of Haines. We took Beach Road to get there. That road was made impassable last week by the landslide.
Reminiscing over these pictures, and then seeing the pictures now in the news is heartbreaking.
You can keep abreast of the situation at khns.org, the public radio in the area. Below, I have inserted a link to one of their pages that lists ways to provide help to the residents of Haines. If I can do any good at all with this tiny little blog of mine, I hope I can make a few more people aware of the devastation and need that exists right now in this amazing place.
Please click here to see ways that you can help the people in Haines.
I hope you will help in whatever way you are able, and keep the people of Haines in your prayers. Thank you!
This post linked to The GRAND Social