One of the Biggest Airlifts in Alaska History Is Underway

One of the most significant airlifts in Alaska history got underway this week to move hundreds of people from coastal villages ravaged by high surf and strong winds from the remnants of Typhoon Halong last weekend, officials said. The storm brought record water levels to two low-lying communities and washed away homes—some with people inside. At least one person was killed and two are missing. Makeshift shelters were quickly established and swelled to about 1,500 people, an extraordinary number in a sparsely populated region where communities are reachable by air or water, the AP reports.

• The remoteness and the scale of the destruction created challenges for getting resources in place. Damage assessments have been trickling in as responders have shifted from initial search-and-rescue operations to trying to stabilize or restore basic services.
• The communities of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok near the Bering Sea saw water levels more than 6 feet above the highest normal tide line. Leaders asked the state to evacuate the more than 1,000 residents in those villages, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson with the state emergency management office.

• Some homes cannot be reoccupied, even with emergency repairs, and others may not be livable by winter, said emergency management officials. Forecasters say rain and snow is possible in the region this weekend, with average temperatures soon below freezing.
• About 300 evacuees were being brought to Anchorage on Wednesday, about 500 miles east of the battered coastline villages, according to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. They were going to the Alaska Airlines Center, a sports and events complex with capacity for about 400, Zidek said.

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• State troopers say they are no longer actively searching for the two missing people, 71-year-old Vernon Pavil and 41-year-old Chester Kashatok, who were in a home that was washed away in Kwigillingok, KTUU reports. The body of a third family member, 67-year-old Ella Mae Kashatok, was found in the home after it washed up on a riverbank on Monday.
• The crisis unfolding in southwest Alaska has drawn attention to Trump administration cuts to grants aimed at helping small, mostly Indigenous villages prepare for storms or mitigate disaster risks. Federal funding to protect Kipnuk erosion and floods was abruptly cut earlier this year.