“It almost looks like a tornado came through, because the wind was just ripping the trees down and across things. So there’s one house that was completely obliterated. Several, several trees. We can’t even get to it to see how many… landed on it,” said resident Tyler Magart.

As the Alsek Glacier has retreated, it has eroded a basin that is now filled by a lake.

A black bear cub in Southeast Alaska was sick last month with bird flu, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The cub found in Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, is only the second instance of highly pathogenic avian influenza being diagnosed in a bear amid an ongoing outbreak. Health officials say risk to mammals, including people, remains low.

Scientists believe a massive glacial dam release - or jökulhlaup - recently occurred in Southeast Alaska. But they probably would not have known about it if they had not been tipped off by an observant commercial fisherman.