In 2022, Typhoon Merbok left parts of the coastal village of Hooper Bay without power for over 36 hours. That September weekend, though, heating wasn’t the main concern.
Edgar Tall Sr., the tribal chief of the Native Village of Hooper Bay, said that the community's worries were focused more on subsistence.
“After Typhoon Merbok most of the community was out of electricity, and we couldn't go back to the homes for a long while due to the no lights,” Tall Sr. said. “And the people lost all their food inside their freezers.”
Fish, moose, berries, and other subsistence foods spoiled, paving a harsh and uncertain path forward into winter. Tall Sr. said that the loss of those harvests was tremendous, and was a top factor in the tribe’s recent decision to purchase generators for each of its tribal members’ households.
The 243 generators were purchased by the Tribal Council using $43,623 of federal COVID-19 relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). After about 6 months of planning and help with a deal from the retail supplier Lowe's, Tall Sr. said that the shipments have all arrived in town. The generators are expected to be doled out to households within the week.
Tall Sr. said that having generators at homes will mean members won’t have to move to other buildings with power during power outages or other emergencies.
“We had to think about each of our tribal members, especially our Elders, may be hard to move from their homes,” Tall Sr. said.
At-home generators will also be able to provide backup heat in the winter and keep household pipes unfrozen.
In the fall of 2024, the tribal council also used $1.9 million of federal COVID-19 relief funding from ARPA to purchase four-wheelers for each of its members' households. Tall Sr. said that the vehicles were purchased to help with daily life in Hooper Bay, allowing members to access the washerteria, haul wood and water, and move trash to the landfill.
Now, a fleet of 241 red Honda Foreman 520s dominate the village and have been woven into the image of life in the coastal town.
“Yeah, they're mostly red,” Tall Sr. described. “But the people have been marking theirs [with] tape, paint, or something on their four-wheelers to distinguish their four-wheelers.”
ARPA funds have also been used by the tribal council to purchase fire extinguishers for each household and other community buildings.
Tall Sr. said that like the four-wheelers, the purchase of the generators has been met with enthusiasm and gratitude from the community.
“They want this, you know, it'll be better for them to, you know, try to protect their homes,” Tall Sr. said.
Other central community buildings — like Hooper Bay’s fuel station, school, public safety, and city office buildings — already have backup generators. In the past, they’ve served as points of community refuge during the outages. Now, Tall Sr. said, the hope is that tribal members won’t have to leave the refuge of their homes when a storm hits.
