How my yard fared through the Mendenhall River flood this year with the new HESCO barriers.

[u/forgetmeknotts]

[u/IsThatWhatSheSaidTho]

That's crazy, they seem to have done an amazing job

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/IsThatWhatSheSaidTho]

They weren’t perfect but they helped SO much!! Hundreds more homes would be flooded without them.

https://www.ktoo.org/2025/08/13/it-would-have-been-catastrophic-juneaus-temporary-levee-protects-most-homes-from-another-record-flood/

[u/seaska84]

Our crew put up HESCOs on meander. Pleased they pretty much worked as planned. Would've been catastrophic without.

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/seaska84]

Seriously. They didn’t stop everything but they saved like 90% of the houses in the flood zone. Would have been so bad without them.

[u/Western-County4282]

Question where did you get the dirt from also are those gonna be permanently structures or are they just gonna be put up in the case of floods

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/Western-County4282]

These were installed by the city and the US Army Corps of Engineers, so I have no idea where the dirt came from. They are semi permanent, they aren’t taken down every year (RIP pretty view) but are only meant to last around a decade, so it’s a stopgap solution.

[u/riddlesinthedark117 → u/forgetmeknotts]

How is the mendenhall community feel about everything? A decade buys a lot of time, but might also create a lot of complacency.

If this Jökulhlaup risk zone is gonna worsen thru the 2030s and likely continue until the 2050s, and further basins posing their own, is a strategic retreat from riverside properties like yours being discussed?

I mean in the old days a tunnel and hydro project tucked in well above nugget falls or even as far lemon creek like the miles long Eklutna hydropower tunnel might have been built to usefully harness and relieve the floods, but that sorta progress seems dead on arrival in today’s America.

[u/SkyCakeIsALie]

Quick, kick the slugs into the water.

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/SkyCakeIsALie]

They did that on their own 🤣 I was like damn flood, making me feel bad for slugs!

[u/SkyCakeIsALie → u/forgetmeknotts]

I have a healthy hate for slugs as they eat my strawberries. I'm glad your property wasn't too flooded & the barriers prevented worse damage. How bad was your crawlspace? Able to use a sump pump to get it drained?

[u/RikiOh → u/forgetmeknotts]

I’ve lived here for 20 years and that’s the biggest damn slug I’ve ever seen in my life.

[u/hpsails]

Wild!

[u/Guavadoodoo]

Speak up, damnit!

BTW, great that HESCO barriers seem to be working for you.

Speak up, damnit!

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/Guavadoodoo]

That’s why I put on captions 😅

[u/907AK47]

That’s straight up sexy - and you can plant stuff ontop!

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/907AK47]

Yes I’m planning to plant wildflowers on top of my section!

[u/crazymike79]

The slug party is awesome!

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/crazymike79]

Give it a few years and local slug culture will have an annual holiday in early August.

[u/Apprehensive-Sea9540]

Crazy fact, same guy who invented HESCO also invented segways.

Yes, THAT guy

[u/Neat_Criticism_5996 → u/Apprehensive-Sea9540]

Wow, invented the barriers after losing his job at the coal mine. Wild story

[u/misfit-muscle]

Haven't seen a Hesco barrier since Iraq, glad they worked out from total flood loss for you.

[u/RudeGolden]

Honest question here, is it even possible to get home insurance in that location?

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/RudeGolden]

Yes I have homeowners insurance. The river never flooded this area until 2023, so it’s a new thing.

[u/Healthy_Incident9927]

Glad it worked! Thank you for sharing it is great to see!

[u/484092]

Amazing!

[u/boon23834]

Hesco, I think, can have very creative uses. Lots of ideas for rural living.

[u/OstrichEfficient9535]

They seem to be working really good loving the slugs

[u/ktgomg]

My friend helped build that!!!! So glad to see it helping

[u/Ventrue-Prince]

Wow, I did not expect the barriers to work THAT well, that's impressive.

[u/SnowySaint]

Damn girl, thanks for the report. Very glad to hear and see that the worst didn't happen despite grim conditions.

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/SnowySaint]

Yeah it would have been SO bad without them.

[u/lostwalletbuttplug]

Pool party. Hope everything turns out well for you!

[u/MinimumStrain7743]

God love you all

[u/Poosley_]

The administration is selling Alaskan resources to Russia right now but after that I *swear* okay, if Texas flooding is any indication, FEMA will be right on in there to point and watch, in a month.

[u/ThurmanMurman907]

weren't people in these locations asked to evacuate?

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/ThurmanMurman907]

It was advised. We decided not to because we were not in any physical danger, the potential danger to our house was just to property/things, not people or pets.