Dunleavy requests federal disaster declaration after Western Alaska storm

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has requested that President Donald Trump declare a major disaster for the state in response to storm damage in Western Alaska.

"I determined this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments," Dunleavy wrote Thursday.

The request came after hundreds of Alaskans from several Native villages were forced to shelter in schools and dozens of homes washed away in a record-breaking storm surge over the weekend, leaving one person dead and two missing. State and local officials are preparing four shelters in Anchorage to potentially accommodate more than 1,000 displaced people.

Such a disaster declaration, if approved, is expected to unlock several forms of funding and assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The request comes as current and former employees of FEMA have warned of debilitating cuts under the Trump administration to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response. One-third of the agency's full-time workforce has left or been fired, the Associated Press reported.

Alaska U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich sent a letter Friday urging Trump to approve Dunleavy's request.

"Immediate federal assistance is needed to support Alaskans recovering from the damage of this storm and to mitigate the impact of future severe weather events," they wrote.

The delegation asked that federal authorities cover 100% of the cost of emergency work during recovery, a departure from typical practice, which requires some state participation.

"While first responders, tribal and local governments, and state emergency management personnel have acted swiftly and effectively, the scale of this disaster surpasses the state's ability and capacity to respond without federal support," they added.

Dunleavy arrived in Bethel on Friday morning on his way to Kipnuk and Kwigillingok to see and assess storm damage.

"We're going to see exactly what happened with our eyes," he said.

Sullivan said Monday that he was in touch with FEMA Director David Richardson and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In a social media post Friday, Vice President JD Vance wrote that he and Trump "are closely tracking the storm devastation that resulted in over 1,000 citizens being airlifted out of Alaska villages."

Vance said the federal government is "working closely" with Sullivan and Dunleavy to get help to Alaskans.

FEMA spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions from The Anchorage Daily News about Dunleavy's request.

Major evacuation operations in Western Alaska and a shelter in Bethel were winding down Friday, according to Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesman Jeremy Zidek, but helicopters were still being sent to carry people out of affected communities.

Responders are beginning to shift their focus to damage assessment, recovery support and repair work, including for utilities like power and water, Zidek said.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. will continue to coordinate evacuations for people who want to leave, Zidek said.

Dunleavy asked that the disaster declaration apply to the Northwest Arctic Borough, Lower Yukon and Lower Kuskokwim. According to his letter, a series of storms this month impacted more than 50 remote communities.

Hundreds of Alaskans were evacuated beginning Wednesday from storm-ravaged Kipnuk and Kwigillingok to temporary mass shelters in Anchorage.

The mass shelter offered to evacuees prompted four state lawmakers on Thursday to send a letter to Dunleavy raising concerns about the options given to people who lost their homes in the storm.

"We are especially concerned for the 1,400 community members presently in temporary shelters, many who may not have homes to go back to," wrote GOP Senate President Gary Stevens, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, and Independent, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Democrat; and Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, a Democrat.

"While we appreciate your desire to get people back in their homes and in their villages, we need resources to make long-term plans for housing and sustaining these individuals," the lawmakers wrote.

"The Anchorage (Alaska) Airlines Center is not a long-term solution — we should be moving these individuals into hotels as swiftly as possible, as is a regular occurrence in the Lower 48 for victims of natural disasters," they added. "Keeping them in mass shelters only prolongs the trauma and makes it impossible to go back to a semi-normal routine."

A spokesperson for Dunleavy did not immediately respond to questions about the lawmakers' concerns.

According to Dunleavy's disaster declaration request, since the beginning of his tenure as governor in 2018, there have been 57 state disasters, and 14 of those were approved for federal disaster assistance. The state has spent more than $300 million since November 2018 responding to disasters, Dunleavy wrote.

(Chris Aadland reported from Bethel, and the Daily News' Marc Lester contributed from Bethel.)