As residents boarded air transports out of Kipnuk on Wednesday, Oct. 15, they were leaving what remained of their houses, belongings, and ancestral homeland behind. For many, that list also included their pet dogs.
The remnant of Typhoon Halong ravaged Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities on Oct. 12, leaving the coastal village of Kipnuk among the hardest hit. Flood waters swept whole homes miles from their foundations and state officials say nearly every building has suffered flood damage.
Community members sheltered in Kipnuk’s school building until many voluntarily evacuated to Bethel or Anchorage. But animals were not permitted on the National Guard and Army helicopters out of the community.
Bethel-based dog rescue Bethel Friends of Canines (BFK9) sprang into action, looking for a way to evacuate the animals left behind.
Jesslyn Elliot is the director of the Bethel-based nonprofit dog rescue. She said that as of Friday, Oct. 17, the organization was caring for about 70 displaced dogs, most of them rescued in bush planes.
“We’re slowly but steadily getting the numbers down in Kipnuk,” said Elliot.
BFK9 coordinated with school teachers that had stayed behind in the village, who rounded up the dogs to help them evacuate.
Elliot said pilots from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Ryan Air, and DeHaan Aviation quickly responded to BFK9’s call for aviation support.
Elliot said that about 10 dogs from the village of Kwigillingok evacuated with residents in National Guard helicopters and are also now under BFK9's care. She said there are more pets there. She said late in the week, BFK9 had still been working to establish a point person who could assist in plane evacuations out of Kwigillingok. As of Saturday, Oct. 18, BFK9 announced that it was beginning to charter flights to Kwigillingok.
Elliot said that most of the rescued dogs’ families have been identified, though some were surrendered after the storm or are strays. Some have been reunited with their families in Bethel or are being fostered by extended family. Other dogs have been sent to foster homes in Anchorage to help expand Bethel’s capacity for future dog evacuations.
Right now, it’s a matter of managing BFK9’s sheltering capacity before another round of evacuations can begin.
“We're pretty full, but people have stepped up,” Elliot said. “Quite a few people stopped in and were like, ‘Let me take a dog,’ you know. And that has worked out the best. Just stopping by and saying, ‘What can I do?’”
Other individual efforts to evacuate dogs from flood-impacted communities are underway. Independent pilot Jeanine Faulker has flown to hard-hit communities and evacuated planefuls of dogs, some she’s sheltering in her home.
Pilot Nate DeHaan co-operates DeHaan Aviation and flew with BFK9 to Kipnuk on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 15. DeHaan said that they arrived just hours after the community had been evacuated.
“You [could] start to see that debris field from a long ways away,” DeHaan described. “And then you get closer, and you realize that the debris field is partially made up of buildings and people's houses, and they're a long way from the village.”
DeHaan said that it was clear that people had recently fled. He described left-behind four-wheelers parked across from the airport.
“The airport ramp was just scattered with people's boots, with their rubber boots that they had left behind, you know, right before they got on the transport taking them out of there,” DeHaan said.
DeHaan loaded air kennels filled with dogs of all sizes onto the plane.
“My prior experience flying a large number of dogs was flying sled dogs after the [Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race],” DeHaan said. “So this was a little different, because these dogs weren't necessarily tired and had a little more energy.”
Once in Bethel, dogs have been housed at the BFK9 kennel or in foster homes. In some cases, evacuees in Bethel were able to reunite with their pets.
“What it would mean for all these displaced families to get reconnected with a little piece of their home that they've had to leave behind, I can't even imagine,” DeHaan said.
Elliot said that teachers in Kipnuk are still feeding and looking out for the few dogs that remain until future evacuations can take place.
Elliot said that Bethel Friends of Canines is calling for volunteers in Bethel to help the shelter manage dogs and supplies. It’s also in need of dog bowls and flight kennels, and is accepting dog food donations to send to other storm-impacted communities. Elliot said that anyone can bring supplies by the shelter or leave them on the porch.
Bethel Friends of Canines is also accepting monetary donations through its website that will support its ongoing evacuation efforts.
In Anchorage, at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference on Saturday, Oct. 18, Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke of her visit to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the aftermath of ex-typhoon Halong. After visiting the emergency shelter in Bethel’s National Guard Armory, she took a Chinook helicopter to survey Kipnuk’s damage.
Murkowski said that she brought two loose dogs from the village back with her to foster, who she’s temporarily named “Kipnuk” and “Chinook.” She plans to reunite the dogs with their owners.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
