The National Weather Service says the storm that has battered Western Alaska since Friday night has moved north and, by Monday afternoon, was near Point Hope.
Meteorologist Jonathan Chriest said the storm will continue to weaken. But, Monday night and into Tuesday, he expects wind to increase in the Northwest Alaska region, including in Shishmaref and Kivalina.
“We’re expecting the water levels to continue to fall,” he said. “However, those winds are going to keep the surf high. And so we’re expecting coastal erosion to continue at Shishmaref and Kivalina not flooding but coastal erosion.”
The National Weather Service had much of the region’s coast under a flood warning that expired late Monday afternoon.
“We’re not considering the storm over,” Chriest said. “However, the main impacts that the storm will have caused, especially in terms of flooding, are over at this point.”
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Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
