What we know about the devastating storm in western Alaska: NPR

Late on the night of October 11, the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit the southwest coast of Alaska, bringing hurricane-force winds and record flooding to many Alaska Native villages on the coast.

Evacuees and rescuers describe massive destruction: utility poles snapped in two, boardwalks – the roads and sidewalks of many tundra villages – uprooted, homes blown off their foundations, some with families still inside.

According to the state, more than a thousand people are displaced – some have no home to return to. A woman was found deadAnd two members of his family are still missing. The State of Alaska Emergency Operations Center is at its highest possible emergency response level. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy called for a federal disaster declaration for the region.

Where is most affected?

The remains of Typhoon Halong considerable impacts through the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta – an area of ​​western Alaska hundreds of miles from the U.S. highway system and roughly the size of Oregon, with dozens of small villages scattered throughout.

The coastal villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were worst hit by the storm and are almost being destroyed. completely evacuatedaccording to the state Emergency Operations Center.

In addition, regional health officials have listed more than a dozen villages where significant damage has been reported, and the state says nearly 50 of them have reported impacts. The damage is still being assessed and it is not yet clear how many people will be permanently displaced.

Evacuations slowed down and complicated by distance

At the beginning, many displaced hosted in schools throughout the region. But with heating, fuel, water and sewer systems strained – local officials said it was not safe for people to stay.

Rescuers began evacuating people to Bethel, the region’s central community of 6,500 people, which suffered relatively little damage from the storm. But the emergency shelter quickly reached capacity. Within two days, displaced residents were took the plane to Anchorage, 400 air miles away.

The evacuation process was slowed considerably by the remoteness of the area. With the runways damaged in at least one village, some evacuations had to resort to helicopters. US Coast Guard Rescue Teams reported moving people out of communities six at a time.

Buggy Carl, Kipnuk tribal administrator, said despite the damage, it is intimidating for community members to leave this place where they have such deep history. The villages of the Kuskokwim Delta are the traditional lands of generations of Yup’ik.

“I know their state of mind, that their heart is here,” he said on October 15. “They don’t know anywhere to go, because, you know, they grew up here. They have their own food all year round, hunting for sustenance. They just can’t leave.”

This connection to land and food is a major concern for many people facing longer-term resettlement. Some of those who remained in destroyed villages did so in an effort to scavenge what subsistence foods they could – elk, musk ox, beluga, salmonella, salmon, seal oil, emperor goose.

Others speak of the heartbreaking loss of ancestral graves. In Kwigillingok, residents reported seeing unearthed coffins piled up at the end of the airport runway after floodwaters receded.

How were these remnants of the typhoon so destructive?

Initially, climate models showed the rest of the typhoon was heading north. But according to Rick ThomanAlaska climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the storm picked up speed and moved suddenly, heading toward the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It was only a day and a half before the storm hit Alaskan waters – a tight deadline for evacuation.

This region is also at the forefront of climate change. Permafrost – or frozen ground all year round – underlies many of these villages and is melting, leading to rapid erosion and instability. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium says almost 150 communities in Alaska – many in the Yukon Delta – will have to relocate completely or partially in the coming years due to thawing permafrost, land subsidence, erosion or any other combination of climate factors.

The delta’s hundreds of square miles of tundra are very close to sea level, and many communities don’t have much height. And while some homes and buildings are built on stilts driven deep into the ground, many others rest on posts or other less stable foundations.

These factors combine to make land more vulnerable to storm-induced erosion and structures more vulnerable to flood damage.

What’s next?

If communities choose to rebuild, it will be difficult.

It is costly and logistically complex to transport construction materials to these isolated villages.

The region is also still recovering from major flooding in August last year – Kipnuk, one of the villages hardest hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong, suffered one of the first ever federal disasters Statements for Alaska Tribe Following Floods.

You can follow more of KYUK’s coverage of the storm here.

Nathaniel Herz and Evan Erickson contributed to this report