Wrangell Sentinel -

A pair of Juneau teachers needed good news after they lost nearly all their possessions when their house collapsed last month into the Mendenhall River swollen by a glacial-outburst flood and their cat went missing.

Elizabeth Wilkins was holding onto hope that if any animal would survive the house falling into the river on Aug. 5, it would be Leo, the couple's resilient big-eyed, black-and-white cat who shows no fear of bears.

"I knew that he's pretty smart, and so I felt pretty confident that he would escape and be OK somewhere," she said.

That faith paid off 26 days after the flood when Tony...