Daniel Herrera Carbajal and Mary Annette Pember
ICT
ANCHORAGE — It was early morning when Raymond Egoak and his family evacuated their home in Kipnuk.
Outside the window, Egoak could see the strong winds picking up and the tides beginning to rise. That’s when he evacuated his in-laws along with his two children to a bigger house where he thought they’d be safe.
By then, the winds and flooding had begun, and many people were seeing their homes swept away.
“We tried going to the school,” Egoak told ICT at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. “But it was too late for us, the water level at the school was already at my chest.”
He carried two children and guided his in-laws through the floods to a shipping container where the water was at their waist and the strong winds rocked the container back and forth.
“I was too cold to even think but I wanted to keep the two kids warm,” Egoak told ICT. “Luckily, there was a shelf bolted on where we could keep them dry.”
Damage to remote Alaska villages hammered by flooding last weekend is so extreme that many of the more than 2,000 people displaced won’t be able to return to their homes for at least 18 months, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a request to the White House for a major disaster declaration.
The Indigenous Alaskan villages of Kupnik and Kwigillingok were the hardest hit by the remnants of typhoon Halong.
One person was left dead and two missing and more than 1,000 people had to be airlifted to safety.
Initial estimates suggest 90 percent of buildings were destroyed in Kipnuk, with the fresh water supply seemingly contaminated by fuel and sewage, according to a report released Monday by Alaska’s emergency management division. About 35 percent of buildings in Kwigillingok were destroyed, the report states.
Officials are working on figuring out how to move people out of shelters and into short-term accommodations, such as hotels, and then longer-term housing.
“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 said. “Agencies are prioritizing rapid repairs … 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.”
Focus by the state has shifted to sending personnel and supplies into communities to help restore damaged infrastructure and assist with emergency home repairs, the report from the emergency management agency said. Tribal organizations and consortiums are coordinating efforts to help dry out, salvage and repair homes.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., which is involved in recovery efforts and provides health care in the region, on social media said it anticipates freeze up — when rivers begin to freeze over — within weeks.
Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state emergency management agency, said there is not yet a date by which officials plan to close shelters that have been set up in Anchorage.
“As we work to return people home or find other accommodation we will assess,” he said by email.
Daryl John, Native Village of Kupnik, said he did not expect this level of destruction.
“My house drifted away,” John told ICT. “Everything is gone, our food supply, our clothes, everything.”
After being airlifted to Anchorage, approximately 465 miles from Kupnik, John and his family are taking shelter with more than 2,000 other people.
“I don’t know how to explain what I’m going through,” he said. “We have no home to go back to.”
On Monday, 65 displaced students began classes in Anchorage schools. Anchorage School District staff over the weekend met with families in the shelters set up in the city and helped register children for school, the district said in a statement.
The district superintendent, Jharrett Bryantt, in a statement last week said school teams would be ready to provide emergency supplies, bus transportation, mental health services, language assistance and other support.
“This transition carries both emotional and cultural weight. Our schools will be places of belonging, healing and hope, where every child feels safe, valued and connected,” he said. “Honoring each student’s culture, language and relationships will be essential to helping them heal and rebuild their sense of home.”
The Alaska Community Foundation, in partnership with Alaska Native organizations, regional nonprofits and tribal governments, have launched the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund to deliver immediate and long-term support to communities devastated by Typhoon Halong
More than $1 million has been raised to help people recover from one of the worst natural disasters in recent Alaska history.
“This response is an example of Alaska at its best,” said Alex McKay, Alaska Community Foundation president and chief executive officer, in a news release. “When disaster hits, we don’t hesitate. We come together across communities and regions, listen to local leaders, and act quickly.”
Mary Annette Pember and the Associated Press contributed to this report.