Gov. Mike Dunleavy requested Thursday that President Donald Trump declare a federal disaster after remnants of Typhoon Halong brought high winds and record-breaking floods to coastal villages in Western Alaska.
“This incident is of such magnitude and severity that an effective response exceeds state and local capabilities, necessitating supplementary federal assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health, and safety, and mitigate the threat of further disaster,” Dunleavy wrote in a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
About 90% of the structures in Kipnuk were destroyed by the storm, the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities reported, and approximately 35% of the structures in Kwigillingok.
Loading...
Dunleavy and members of his cabinet visited Kipnuk and Kwigillingok on Friday. After returning to Bethel in an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter, Dunleavy said it was clear Kipnuk was in “bad shape.”
“It's definitely a disaster area. The lines are down, the boardwalk’s wrecked, the homes are tossed everywhere,” he said. “You’ve almost got what looks like a blast radius because of the surge and the wind.”
The situation in Kwigillingok, he said, was substantially better.
“They absolutely need help there as well, but we believe we can get that place up and running, probably on a much larger scale, where we think a lot of folks can actually come back,” he said.
More than 500 people from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok have been evacuated to Anchorage aboard military aircraft. Some are staying with family or friends in the hub community of Bethel or other villages in the region. Dozens more evacuees from other villages, including Napakiak and Tuntutuliak, arrived in Bethel on Friday, with many expected to be ferried to Anchorage.
Dunleavy did not say precisely when he expected large numbers of people to be able to return to Kwigillingok or Kipnuk. But he commended community members who had stayed behind to rebuild.
“Across the board, very positive attitudes. They just want a little help,” he said. “It's the Alaska spirit. There was nobody blaming anybody — it was just all a team effort there.”
The federal disaster declaration would unlock federal resources to respond to the Lower Kuskokwim and Lower Yukon regions in Western Alaska, in addition to the Northwest Arctic Borough. The Association of Village Council Presidents, a consortium of tribal governments in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, urged a federal disaster declaration in a letter to the White House on Tuesday.
Previously, officials coordinating the state’s response in the immediate aftermath of the storm said federal resources were not necessary. But with damage widespread, leaving evacuees unsure when they’ll be able to return home, Dunleavy said the state’s resources may not suffice.
“Due to the time, space, distance, geography, and weather in the affected areas, it is likely that many survivors will be unable to return to their communities this winter,” Dunleavy wrote. “Agencies are prioritizing rapid repairs to all lifelines where possible, but it is likely that some damaged communities will not be viable to support winter occupancy, in America’s harshest climate in the U.S. Arctic.”
Alaska’s congressional delegation urged Trump to sign the disaster declaration.
“The people of Western Alaska are once again facing the onset of winter and the immense challenge of rebuilding in the aftermath of another coastal storm,” they wrote. “Quick federal action will help ensure that families remain safe, critical services are restored, and communities are stabilized before winter arrives.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski visited Kipnuk and Kwigillingok on Friday and met with evacuees arriving from Tuntutuliak at a National Guard hangar in Bethel.
“We've always had storms. But every year the intensity is increasing,” she told reporters. “When you have a mass evacuation, like we're seeing here now, we've all got to be thinking about what this means for our future.”
Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin contributed reporting.
