'Everything is lost now': Hundreds evacuate from Western Alaska villages

[Celerity]

https://alaskapublic.org/2025-western-alaska-storm/2025-10-16/everything-is-lost-now-hundreds-evacuate-from-western-alaska-villages



A massive airlift is underway in Western Alaska as Alaska National Guard planes and helicopters take people from villages devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong. On Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of people from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok boarded military transport planes headed for Anchorage, leaving their homes, belongings and communities behind. Now, they’re not sure when or if they’ll be able to return.

Sitting on a green military cot at an Alaska Army National Guard hangar in Bethel, Luke Amik Jr. mourned his village. “Kipnuk is our hometown, and we've been living there all our life. Everything is lost now,” he said. “All the memories … all the houses are gone.” Amik was waiting for his turn to board a massive C-17 military transport plane ferrying survivors to shelters in Anchorage.

Water came within an inch of Amik’s home before it started to recede, he said. He watched other homes float by as wind-driven waters rose higher than they ever had in recorded history. One crashed into his house. For Amik, it all just seems surreal. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “I still can’t believe what’s happening right now.”

Not everyone from Kipnuk and another hard-hit village, Kwigillingok, is going to Anchorage. Some are staying with family and friends in Bethel or surrounding villages. Still others are staying behind. “There's about, maybe, 50 to 100 people in Kipnuk, and probably about 200 to 300 in (Kwigillingok) that are staying in the village,” said Lt. Col. Brendon Holbrook, commander of the Alaska Army National Guard.

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[Walleye]

1. So sad, I hope they get all the help they need without political interference

[EdmondDantes_]

2. This sucks. As bad as hurricanes are anywhere, when you have to ship in everything, it's that much worse

Plus it's already cold up there and the rebuilding probably can't start until after winter.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

I've been keeping up with this story. Horrible.

[leftstreet]

4. DURec