Officials have identified more than 1,000 hotel rooms available as well as additional rental options in Alaska’s largest city for hundreds of people displaced to Anchorage after the hurricane’s remnants. Their villages were destroyed Earlier this month.
Leaders are working to speed up the transfer of people from the city’s two large shelters to more private accommodations in line with the goals of a state-led task force formed to address the housing problem, Anchorage City Manager Becky Wendt Pearson said at a news conference Tuesday. Needs of displaced people.
“The state will be the leader in relocating evacuated individuals to the housing options of their choice,” she said. “What we’ve been doing is trying to support this effort by identifying every resource we can.”
More than 650 people were brought to Anchorage by military aircraft as part of a rescue operation Mass evacuation After Typhoon Halong tore through parts of western Alaska on October 11 and 12. The storm brought strong winds – in places hurricane force – and damaging storm surge. It brought widespread devastation to the Yup’ik communities of Kipnuk and Kwijelenjuk, which saw record high water levels.
About 338 people remained Monday night in Anchorage shelters, according to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The shelters are located in a sports and events center on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and a downtown conference hall. A crosswalk in the street near the convention hall was closed, and a flashing light was used to help draw attention to increased traffic in the area, Wendt-Pearson said.
She said it’s possible more evacuees will come to Anchorage as people continue to evaluate their housing situations and needs.
State officials acknowledged that it may not be possible for everyone to return to their homes before winter arrives. Kits and supplies They are sent to communities to help with debris cleanup, emergency home repairs and critical infrastructure. But daylight hours are getting shorter, and temperatures are getting colder. Wind temperatures at one point reached 15 degrees Tuesday at Bethel Airport, a regional hub and staging point for relief supplies to villages affected by the storm.
Affected communities are outside the main road system. Kipnok and Kuijelinguk It can be reached by air and, in the warmer months, by water. They have snowmobile trails to some of the other villages in the winter.
The state Department of Transportation brought emergency lighting and generators to airports in those two communities, Shannon McCarthy, a department spokesman, said in an interview.
Tuesday’s news conference, called by Anchorage Mayor Susan LaFrance, also included Alaska state Rep. Nellie Jimmy, who represents communities affected by Halong; Representatives of tribal health and relief agencies; and Anchorage School District Superintendent Garrett Bryant.
More than 130 students displaced by the storm are enrolled in Anchorage schools, Bryant said.