The remnants of Typhoon Halong brought record-breaking winds and flooding to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta overnight on Oct. 12, hitting the Kuskokwim Delta coast especially hard. High water, immense damage, and other storm impacts prompted hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes to other villages, Bethel, and Anchorage. In the wake of the storm, one woman was found dead. Two of her family members remain missing.
Evacuating people from storm-damaged communities represented the largest airlift in state history, according to state officials. The storm’s impact prompted both state and federal disaster declarations. Many from the hardest-hit communities don’t know when or if they will be able to return home.
With resources spread out over thousands of miles and dozens of communities, KYUK has tried to summarize what we know and don’t know about the impact of the storm, one month since it hit.
How many people have been displaced by the storm, and where are they?
Estimates from state and national emergency response put the number of people displaced by the storm at over 1,600. There is no single source of public information tracking where storm evacuees have landed, as many have resettled in short-term or longer-term housing in communities throughout the state.
In Bethel, the city government said that as of Nov. 14, 296 individuals, hosted in 61 local households, were temporarily sheltering with family or friends. According to city officials, an additional number of individuals or families displaced by the storm are in Bethel, but have elected to more permanently resettle in the hub community, and therefore aren’t counted in the number of people sheltering.
In Anchorage, a situation report from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that as of Nov. 14, 622 people had been transferred to non-congregate shelters – out of the emergency shelters and into hotels or other temporary housing. The number of people staying outside of official non-congregate housing is unclear, the state told KNBA.
That makes a total of at least 918 people displaced and sheltering in Bethel and Anchorage. Other villages in the Kuskokwim Delta have reported individuals and families sheltering as well, but that total number is not publicly available. The Lower Kuskokwim School District says it has re-enrolled 133 students from storm-impacted communities in Bethel and in other schools across the district.
Where will people who’ve been displaced by storm impacts be over the winter, or longer term?
It’s not clear how long people may be displaced from their communities – and people may differ about whether they want to move back, or would rather remain outside their village in the wake of the storm.
State and federal officials say they want to prioritize getting people back to their communities, if they want to be there. But with huge numbers of homes and other vital infrastructure damaged or destroyed, it’s hard to establish a timeline for when large numbers of people might return.
People in Anchorage who were displaced by the storm can register for long-term temporary housing through the non-congregate shelter program by calling 907-759-6927.
People outside of Anchorage who were displaced by ex-Typhoon Halong can call the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation travel line at 833-543-6625 for assistance traveling to Anchorage for placement in the non-congregate shelter program.
Outside of housing, what does assistance look like for people impacted by or displaced by the storm?
Dozens of organizations throughout the state are coordinating shipments of donated and government-purchased food, clothing, building supplies, generators, ATVs, and other necessities for cleanup and rebuilding.
As of Nov. 14, the state said it had received 1,578 applications for individual assistance. Federal individual assistance, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), had seen 934 applications by the same date.
As of Nov. 14, the state had paid out about $237,000 in individual assistance, but did not specify how many households that funding had gone to.
President Donald Trump said he committed $25 million toward disaster recovery. Where has that money gone?
While visiting Bethel, Kipnuk, and Kwigillingok in late October, federal Office of Management and Budget deputy director Eric Ueland called the $25 million figure a “down payment” toward disaster response, and emphasized that it’s not the total amount the federal government will ultimately commit to recovery.
According to FEMA, as of Nov. 13, the agency had disbursed $7,638,478 in assistance under its Individuals and Households Program, including $17,753 in Housing Assistance funds and $7,620,724 in Other Needs Assistance.
FEMA said it has awarded an additional $1,094,625 in Public Assistance funds to the state of Alaska to support emergency work including temporary repairs to critical infrastructure and staffing. FEMA said it has deployed 184 total personnel to Alaska – 23 in Bethel, 158 in Anchorage, and 3 in Kotzebue.
As of Nov. 13, FEMA said that a request from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy for a 100% federal cost share – meaning the state would not be required to match federal funds with any funding of its own – was still under review.
What’s the extent of damage from ex-Typhoon Halong, and what’s been repaired in the last month?
According to regional tribal organization the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), 52 communities have reported damage from ex-Typhoon Halong. Of those, more than a dozen reported significant damage.
AVCP is working alongside multiple state and federal agencies, and regional health care provider the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) to survey the extent of damage to infrastructure and personal property.
As of Nov. 14, Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said it had surveyed nearly 3,500 homes since the storm. Of those, it said 208 were totally destroyed, 471 sustained major damage, 389 sustained minor damage, 1,000 were affected, and 939 had no damage. That’s more than 90% of the structures in Kipnuk and more than 35% of those in Kwigillingok, according to the state.
Alaska Organized Militia members report that across affected communities, they’ve cleared nearly 30 miles of boardwalks and removed more than 89,000 pounds of debris from communities.
In addition to personal property loss, communities saw damage or interruptions to municipal infrastructure.
Boardwalks in many villages were washed away or damaged significantly. As of Nov. 14, the Alaska Department of Transportation was conducting assessments of transportation infrastructure in villages. The agency has purchased millions of dollars worth of lumber to repair boardwalks in hard-hit villages.
Dozens of villages throughout the region lost power during the storm due to the flooding and high winds. The coastal villages of Kipnuk, Kwigillingok, and Nightmute saw extended power outages, but power in all three communities has since been restored according to situation reports from the state. Some residences in those communities remain without power due to flood damage, though power is running in the primary community buildings in every community in the region, including schools, health clinics, and at airstrips.
A handful of communities also saw damage to water uptake systems or water lines. State reports show water lines in three communities have been repaired, coordinated by YKHC.
The State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said it’s working with AVCP and local leaders in efforts to locate and manage remains from cemeteries damaged in the storm. As of Nov. 12, workers had recovered 57 displaced caskets in Kwigillingok and 34 in Kipnuk.
Many villages experienced contamination concerns in the days following the storm.
Multiple fuel spills were reported in communities, accompanied by concerns about drinking water contamination. The Division also stated in a situation report that many communities’ landfills were impacted by the storm, with waste displaced from the site by the floodwaters. In some communities, access to the landfill was cut off and landfill management equipment was lost.
Contamination concerns and access to fuel have mostly been resolved, although situation reports describe a spill of hazardous materials in Nightmute during the storm. Displaced containers that originally held the contaminants were found and removed. The Division has reported that it continues to collaborate with the Coast Guard on the management of the spill. Drinking water systems are safe to use in the community and a boil water notice is in effect for traditional outdoor water sources.
KYUK is working to catalog community impacts from the storm. Report community-specific impacts here. Visit our work-in-progress community impacts page here.
What weather records were broken?
Typhoon remnants are not uncommon in Western Alaska, but ex-Typhoon Halong was historically strong. Since 1970, more than 60 ex-typhoons have impacted Alaska, most of them hitting the Western part of the state, according to UAF Alaska Climate Specialist Rick Thoman.
When ex-Typhoon Halong hit Alaska’s coast, Y-K Delta communities experienced record levels of high water and hurricane-force winds. In Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, record flood levels were exceeded by around two feet – rising to more than six and a half vertical feet over the normal high tide line. And the community of Tooksok Bay recorded a 100-mph wind gust, the highest ever measured on Nelson Island, according to National Weather Service records.
Community members as far upriver as Napakiak and Bethel – 60 miles up the Kuskokwim – reported flood levels rivaling other storms in living memory.
Where can I find additional information about resources available to storm-impacted people and communities?
The State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is keeping a running list of resources and information about the recovery after ex-Typhoon Halong at the top of its website: ready.alaska.gov.
The list also contains information about where individuals or organizations that want to support relief efforts can direct money or other resources.
More information on FEMA assistance and what each program covers can be found here: fema.gov/assistance/individual/program.
KYUK is actively seeking additional information about the extent of impact from ex-Typhoon Halong to communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Please feel free to reach out to news@kyuk.org to report community impacts, or fill out this form.
