ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — 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, Gov.
In one of the hardest hit villages, Kipnuk, an initial assessment showed that 121 homes — or 90% of the total — have been destroyed, Dunleavy wrote.
Officials have been scrambling to airlift people from the inundated Alaska Native villages.
They’ve been staying at the Alaska Airlines Center at the University of Alaska, where the Red Cross provided evacuees with cots, blankets and hygiene supplies.
“We’re starting a new life here in Anchorage.” Anchorage officials and business leaders said Friday they were eager to help the evacuees.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The damages caused by last weekend’s flooding in remote Alaskan villages are so severe that many of the more than 2,000 displaced residents won’t be able to return to their homes for at least 18 months, according to Gov. Mike Dunleavy stated this when he asked the White House to declare a major disaster.
According to Dunleavy’s initial assessment, 121 homes, or 90% of the total, have been destroyed in Kipnuk, one of the hardest-hit villages. Slightly more than one-third of the houses in Kwigillingok, where three dozen homes floated away, are uninhabitable.
High surf surged into the low-lying area as Typhoon Halong’s remnants hit the area with the intensity of a Category 2 hurricane, according to Dunleavy. Dozens of people were rescued from their homes as they floated away, and one person was killed and two are still unaccounted for.
As the Alaska Native villages have been flooded, officials have been rushing to airlift residents. Over 2,000 people in the area have sought refuge in larger communities in southwest Alaska, in schools in their villages, or in military aircraft that have flown them to Anchorage, the biggest city in the state.
Authorities in Anchorage stated on Friday that they anticipate up to 1,600 evacuees to arrive. Approximately 575 people have been airlifted to the city by the Alaska National Guard thus far, and they are lodging at a convention center or sports arena. More flights were anticipated on Saturday and Friday.
Officials are trying to figure out how to get people out of shelters and into hotels and other short-term lodgings before moving them into longer-term housing.
Many survivors will probably not be able to return to their communities this winter because of the time, location, distance, geography, and weather in the impacted areas, Dunleavy stated. Rapid repairs are being given priority by agencies. However, given the harshest climate in the United States, it is likely that some damaged communities will not be able to support winter occupancy. S. . the Arctic. “”.
Search and rescue operations, damage assessments, environmental response, and evacuation support have already received assistance from the federal government. If President Donald Trump declares a major disaster, federal assistance programs for people and public infrastructure, including funding for emergency and ongoing work, could be made available.
The three congressional representatives from Alaska wrote to Trump on Friday, pleading for prompt approval.
The storm surge hammered a sparsely populated area off the state’s main road system, where, at this time of year, communities can only be reached by water or air. There are usually only a few hundred people living in the villages, and they mostly hunt and fish for their food. Moving to one of the state’s larger cities will result in a very different way of life.
Following the flooding at his home, Alexie Stone of Kipnuk, along with his siblings, kids, and mother, flew into Anchorage in a military jet. They have been lodging at the University of Alaska’s Alaska Airlines Center, where the Red Cross has given evacuees blankets, cots, and personal hygiene items.
After working in a grocery store in Bethel, he believes he might try to find a job there, at least for the near future.
“It will be, try to find a place and a job,” Stone stated on Friday. Here in Anchorage, we are beginning a new chapter in our lives. “.”.
Officials and business leaders in Anchorage expressed their eagerness to assist the evacuees on Friday.
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance stated during an Anchorage Assembly meeting, “Our neighbors in western Alaska have experienced tremendous loss, devastation, and grief.”. “Here in Anchorage, we will make every effort to greet and support our neighbors during these trying times. “”.
State Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, who lives in Toksook Bay, on an island northwest of Kipnuk, told the assembly how she and her daughter and niece braved the storm’s 100 mph (161 kmh) winds.
“We had to sit in our house and wait to see if our house would come off the foundation or if our windows would be broken by debris,” she said.
Others weren’t as lucky, but it didn’t. She expressed gratitude to Anchorage for taking in the evacuees.
Even though they live far from home, Jimmie stated, “you are demonstrating to my people, my relatives, and my constituents that this is still Alaska land and that they are among families.”
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