Hundreds of residents from remote Alaska Native villages were airlifted after a storm slammed into their low-lying communities over the weekend, destroying homes and killing at least one person. Two others are missing.
In one of The most important air transport operations in the history of AlaskaHundreds were airlifted about 500 miles (800 kilometers) to Anchorage, after a shelter in the hub city of Bethel filled with dozens of evacuees.
Here are some things to know about the storm and ongoing evacuation efforts.
The remnants of Typhoon Halong dumped record rains on western Alaska on Sunday, devastating the small coastal villages of Kipnok and Kwijelenjuk, as water levels rose more than 6 feet (1.8 metres) above the highest natural high tide line.
In Kuijelinguk, the US Coast Guard rescued twenty people from their homes after the structures I floated out to sea In high water. Ella Mae Kashatuk, 67, was found dead in Kuijelinguk, and authorities Monday night called off the search for two men — Chester Kashatuk, 41, and Vernon Pavel, 71 — after their home was swept away.
Officials said on Thursday that 121 homes had been destroyed in Kibnock, but all the people had been identified.
The villages of Kipnok and Kuijelenjok are located near the Bering Sea and have a total population of about 1,000 people, almost all of whom identify as Alaska Native or American Indian, according to Census Bureau data.
It is located outside the state’s main road system and is only accessible at this time of year by water or air.
A Video from Kipnok It shows a house floating away while people on land speak the Yup’ik language of central Alaska, the largest of Alaska’s indigenous languages. There are about 10,000 speakers of the language in 68 villages across southwest Alaska.
Officials said there are about 1,600 people in 13 shelters set up in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in southwest Alaska. Officials hope evacuees will be able to move into hotel rooms or dormitories.
About 300 evacuees were airlifted to Anchorage on Wednesday, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the affected villages, according to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. They were headed to the Alaska Airlines Center, a sports and events complex that seats about 400 people, officials said.
The shelter in Bethel, which was set up at a National Guard armory, was already facing difficulties, as food supplies were “nearly running out,” Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said in a brief report Thursday. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Foundation warned Wednesday that the shelter at the armory would have to close.
Damage assessments are still ongoing, but experts say the most affected communities face a dire situation.
Most building materials will have to be flown in or shipped, and with winter quickly approaching, time is running out.
Emergency officials said some homes were beyond repair and unsafe to return to, even with emergency repairs.