Six months after arriving in Anchorage, evacuees from Western Alaska have moved from hotels into temporary housing.
Hundreds of people have been unable to return to their homes since ex-Typhoon Halong devastated parts of Western Alaska. The storm hit Oct. 12, and wind and high water lifted houses in some villages, leaving dozens of them unlivable. Many residents evacuated to larger communities, including Anchorage, where they have moved from mass shelters to hotels and now to houses and apartments.
The move helps people return to a slightly more normal way of life, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“They're cooking their own foods,” Zidek said. “They have more privacy, more room within the units. They also have places where they can host celebrations for their family members, or have people come over and visit and not just be in one hotel room.”
Evacuees stayed in five different Anchorage hotels through the winter. They received meals from various assistance teams, and on-site staff helped them register for disaster relief and connect to assistance programs.
The state will continue to assist people with paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles, Zidek said.
“We're working with every applicant on a case-by-case basis to make sure that they're not kind of lost in the shuffle, and they don't get so frustrated that they just lose interest in pursuing this assistance that they're eligible for,” he said.
Roughly 680 individuals, comprising 165 households, had moved into temporary housing in and around Anchorage, as of April 17, according to the state. The temporary housing is funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The state and FEMA are working together to identify ways to rebuild in Western Alaska, Zidek said, so that those who want to return home can do so as soon as possible.
