Alaska: House swept into river during record glacial flooding

The melting glaciers have caused major flooding in Alaska, ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger reports

At least two buildings have been destroyed in record floods near Alaska's capital city.

Residents in Juneau were evacuated and homes swept away after flooding caused by a release of water from a glacier-dammed lake. There we no reported injuries.

The Mendenhall River flooded on Saturday because of a major release from Suicide Basin above Alaska's capital city.

Video posted on social media showed towering trees behind a home falling into the rushing river as the water ate away at the bank.

Eventually, the home, teetering at the edge, collapsed into the river.

River levels began falling Sunday but the city said the banks of the river remained highly unstable. Some roadways were blocked by silt and debris from the flooding, it said.

Such glacial outburst floods happen when glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes. 

A study earlier this year found such floods pose a risk to 15 million people around the globe, more than half of them in India, Pakistan, Peru and China.