New sandbag-style barriers installed along a river in Alaska’s capital city held back record levels of flooding and prevented widespread damage after an ice dam at the nearby Mendenhall Glacier released a massive amount of rainwater and snowmelt downstream, officials said Wednesday.

When the peak of the annual glacial outburst flood hit early Wednesday morning in Juneau, newly installed flood barriers stacked along the Mendenhall River largely prevented flooding of the nearby residential area.

These floods, which began more than a decade ago, have become increasingly destructive in recent years and now pose a persistent summertime threat. This time, Alaska’s capital city fortified itself against the floodwaters.