Alaska: On Saturday, a powerful storm that swept north through the Bering Strait caused widespread flooding in several western Alaska coastal communities, knocking out power and forcing residents to flee for higher ground. Water pushed some houses off their foundations, and one house in Nome floated down a river until it became entangled at a bridge. Typhoon Merbok's remnants have been influencing weather patterns as far away as California, where strong winds and a rare late-summer rainstorm were forecast.
According to Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, no injuries or deaths were immediately reported in Alaska. Officials had warned some places could see their worst flooding in 50 years and that the high waters could take up to 14 hours to recede.
During the day, Governor Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster.
The nearly 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) storm front has damaged roads and possibly other infrastructure, Dunleavy said at a news conference on Saturday evening. Water and sewer systems, sea walls, fuel storage areas, airports, and ports will all be assessed. Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were already in Alaska prior to the storm, and Dunleavy said they will remain to help assess damage. "Our goal is to complete the assessments as soon as possible," he explained. "We're going to move as quickly as we can to provide relief, recovery, and the necessities that people require."
Golovin, a village of about 170 people who mostly sought refuge at a school or in three buildings on a hillside, was one of the hardest hit. Winds in the village gusted over 60mph (95kph), and the water rose 11 feet (3.3 metres) above the normal high tide line, with another 2 feet (60 centimetres) expected to rise before cresting on Saturday.
"Most of the lower part of the community is all flooded with structures and buildings inundated," said Ed Plumb, a Fairbanks-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Clarabelle Lewis, the facility manager for the Chinik Eskimo Community's tribal government, was among those who sought refuge on the hill overlooking Golovin. She and others were sheltering in the tribal office after securing items at their homes and assisting neighbours in doing the same. "The wind was howling; it was loud," she said. Wind gusts ranged from 41mph (66kph) to 67mph (108kph) in most communities, but Cape Romanzof had peak winds of 91mph (146kph), according to the weather service. Lewis has never seen a storm like this in his 20 years in Golovin.
"We've had flooding before, but it's never been this severe," she said. "We've never had a house moved from its foundation." According to Bethel public radio station KYUK, more than 250 people took refuge inside the school in Hooper Bay. With nearly 1,400 residents, the village is one of the largest along the coast. Brittany Taraba, the school's vice principal, said three homes were blown off their foundations and large parts of the village were flooded. Residents are coming together to help one another, including donating freshly caught and processed moose to feed those staying at the school. "It's really amazing to see this community come together," Taraba told KYUK.
Plumb predicted that the storm would pass through the Bering Strait on Saturday before heading into the Chukchi Sea. "And then it'll kind of park and weaken just west of Point Hope," he explained, referring to the community on Alaska's northwest coast. He predicted high water near the northern Bering Sea through Saturday night before levels begin to fall through Sunday. Rising water levels in the Chukchi Sea and Kotzebue Sound were expected to continue into Sunday.
Alaska is in the path of a severe storm that could cause catastrophic flooding