More than 1,400 seeking shelter as hundreds wait to be evacuated after catastrophic Western Alaska storm, officials say

Chris Aadland, Anchorage Daily News on Oct 14, 2025

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An unprecedented coastal storm has forced more than 1,400 people from their homes in Western Alaska while emergency officials scramble to place stranded residents seeking shelter in the region's hardest-hit areas, state disaster officials said Tuesday morning.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong battered the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region over the weekend with hurricane-force winds that gusted over 100 mph and caused catastrophic storm-surge flooding, destroying homes and infrastructure in many communities across the region.

Alaska State Troopers said Monday evening that they had found a deceased woman in the village of Kwigillingok. Two others remain missing in that community of about 400 residents near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River where surging floodwater tore dozens of homes from their foundations, sending them adrift.

While officials were still assessing the extent of the damage Tuesday morning, one of their immediate priorities was moving residents of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok — among the hardest-hit communities in the region — from schools to "more suitable locations," the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a situation report Tuesday. Kipnuk is a coastal community of 700 people roughly 100 miles southwest of Bethel.

Nearly 60 people from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok spent the night in a shelter at the Armory in Bethel, according to Mary Horgan, a spokesperson for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. The Bethel-based tribal health organization didn't have a count for the number of people coming in Tuesday, "but we have been told that 'hundreds' of people are looking to evacuate at this time," Horgan wrote in an email.

State officials say it remains unclear where more than 1,000 residents of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok who initially sought shelter at community schools after fleeing the storm and rising waters would be moved to.

The state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Tuesday said it was coordinating the response with local, state, federal, tribal and private entities through the state Emergency Operations Center.

Organizations like the American Red Cross had sent personnel to Bethel to help with shelter operations while others were working to help provide food and supply distribution, according to the state agency. The Alaska National Guard had also been tasked with assisting sheltering and managing donation logistics.

Teams had been sent to affected communities to assess storm damage to infrastructure, like airport runways and water systems. Some affected communities, including Napakiak, Toksook Bay and Quinhagak, have reported issues with water systems being down, flooded power systems or severe erosion, according to state officials.

The Association of Village Council Presidents, which advocates on behalf of the 56 federally recognized tribes of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, said Tuesday that it had called on President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency and send federal assistance to Western Alaska.

In its request, the group said that while Gov. Mike Dunleavy had declared a state emergency, the scope of the devastation required federal funding and manpower to aid recovery efforts.

"Western Alaska needs your intervention immediately, and we are ready to work with you to support our communities," Vivian Korthuis, the group's CEO, wrote in the letter. "Send federal aid. Help us protect lives and rebuild our communities and our future."