Dozens rescued, several still missing after monster storm brings violent wind gusts and record storm surge to western Alaska
By CNN’s Hanna Park, CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert, CNN
(CNN) — Rescuers in western Alaska are working to find missing residents and help those displaced after ferocious, hurricane-force wind gusts from what once was Typhoon Halong tore through remote, coastal communities, unleashed record-breaking storm surge and shoved homes completely off their foundations.
Three people are still unaccounted for in Kwigillingok as of Monday, according to Alaska State Troopers. At least 51 people and two dogs have been rescued since the weekend in Kipnuk and Kwigillingok following the powerful storm. Authorities said they were working to confirm reports of additional missing individuals in Kipnuk.
The sparsely populated villages are more than 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. “Both communities experienced strong winds and heavy flooding overnight, which caused significant damage, including at least eight homes being pushed from their foundations,” Alaska State Troopers said.
Search efforts continued overnight with help from the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the US Coast Guard, according to the state troopers.
The storm generated wind gusts 100 mph or more in western Alaska Sunday, akin to the gusts Category 1 or 2 hurricanes are capable of. Wind gusts hit 107 mph in Kusilvak while nearby Toksook Bay recorded a gust of 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
These winds also drove dangerous storm surge, pushing feet of water onto land, which triggered major flooding in coastal areas. Water levels in Kipnuk soared to 14.5 feet Sunday — more than 2 feet above major flood stage and 1.5 feet above the previous record flood level set in 2000.
The storm was once Typhoon Halong, a powerful tropical system that formed in the northern Philippine Sea earlier this month, skirted by Japan without making landfall and then crossed the north Pacific Ocean. It was no longer tropical by the time it entered the Bering Sea this weekend, but that did not eliminate its power.
The storm moved through northern Alaska late Sunday night and pushed into the Arctic Sea early Monday, leaving communities to pick up the pieces in its wake.
“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement Sunday announcing the expansion of a state disaster declaration to include the areas impacted by the weekend storm.
The initial declaration, issued on Thursday, addressed damage in western Alaska caused by another powerful coastal storm earlier in the week that brought extensive flooding.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said he has “been in frequent conversations with Acting FEMA Director David Richardson, and also in contact with local, tribal and state officials, including the Governor, and with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.”
“FEMA is in direct contact with state and local officials and has an incident management team traveling to Alaska as we speak with a FEMA search-and-rescue group pre-positioned in Washington on standby. According to FEMA, the government shutdown is not impacting the agency’s response to this emergency,” Sullivan said in a statement.
CNN has reached out to the Alaska National Guard, US Coast Guard, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center and the Alaska State Emergency Operations Center for more information.
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