At least 4 missing after Alaska landslides

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Four residents of a neighborhood in Alaska were missing Tuesday after heavy rain caused several landslides, emergency responders said. The rainfall caused the City and Borough of Sitka to declare a state of emergency, according to CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA.

Search and rescue personnel were looking for the missing people in Sitka, where three landslides were reported Tuesday morning after 2.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. One sinkhole also was reported.

The people who were unaccounted for were all in the same neighborhood hit by one of the landslides, Sitka fire spokeswoman Sara Peterson said. She did not know if the people were all together when the landslide occurred.

"The areas are so unstable," Peterson told KTVA. "We've got crews from the city that are out and about, from the fire department, from various agencies including the Alaska State Troopers and other volunteers are helping."

An office building just outside town was evacuated late Tuesday morning because it is near one of the landslides.

It was drizzling early Tuesday afternoon, and Peterson said more rain was expected.

Sitka, almost 600 miles southeast of Anchorage, is characterized by heavy rain throughout the year.

Heavy rain was blamed for a major landslide near the coastal town in September that wiped out hundreds of thousands of dollars in watershed-restoration projects. The rain also damaged a footbridge and trails, including one that had been repaired after flooding in January 2014.

A year earlier, two people at a U.S. Forest service cabin near Sitka escaped moments before part of a mountain slid down.

Gov. Bill Walker's office is monitoring the situation. At this time, no request for assistance has been made to the state, KTVA reported.