Major airlift evacuations in Alaska after remnants of typhoon decimate villages | Alaska
Authorities in Alaska are evacuating hundreds of people from villages on the state’s southwest coast that were flooded by the remnants of last weekend’s typhoon, carrying out one of the “most significant” airlift operations in the state’s history.
Over the weekend, the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit remote communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the southwestern part of the state, destroying two small villages and displacing more than 1,500 people.
The hardest-hit communities included Kipnuk, population 715, and Kwigillingok, population 380. Housing conditions were difficult in both communities. Alaska Public Media reportedand local officials asked the state to evacuate residents.
Kipnuk tribal chief Buggy Carl told APM that toilets were not working at the Kwigillingok school, where many residents had sought refuge. Electricity and telecommunications were patchy in Kipnuk.
About 300 evacuees were being brought to Anchorage, hundreds of miles from battered communities, according to Alaska’s military and veterans affairs department. But local officials acknowledged that not all residents would be willing to evacuate.
Emergency management office spokesman Jeremy Zidek could not say exactly where the evacuees were coming from Wednesday evening. Some people in affected communities may choose to stay behind or stay with others, he said.
The shelter area in Bethel, the regional center of southwest Alaska, is at capacity, officials said.
The weekend storm brought hurricane-force winds and pushed the tide line 6 feet (1.8 meters) above normal in communities, according to the National Weather Service.
“The situation at Kipnuk is a disaster. Let’s not paint another picture,” Mark Roberts, incident commander with the state emergency management division, said at a news conference Tuesday. “We’re doing everything we can to continue to support this community, but it’s just as bad as you’d think.”
The communities are located near the Bering Sea coastline and can only be reached by boat or air. The crisis has drawn attention to the Trump administration’s cuts to federal grants aimed at helping some small, mostly Native villages prepare for the devastation of storms or mitigate disaster risks.
For example, a $20 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Kipnuk was terminated by the Trump administration, a move challenged by environmental groups.
Carl, the Kipnuk tribe leader, said he’s focused on one thing.
“Right now I’m trying to convince everyone to leave before the next storm comes,” he said.
