Oct. 12 (UPI) — Search-and-rescue operations were underway Sunday night in Alaska as several people remain unaccounted for while typhoon remnants continue to batter the Last Frontier state.
Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that at least three people were unaccounted for in Kwigillingok, along the west coast of the state. There were also reports of people unaccounted for in nearby Kipnuk, where homes were pushed from their foundations by heaving winds and flooding.
The operation rescued 18 people in Kwigillingok and at least 16 from Kipnuk, the state police force said, adding that both communities were hit with strong winds and heavy flooding Saturday night.
“This is an active and ongoing search-and-rescue mission,” it said adding that the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard were aiding in the effort.
Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Nunivak Island were hit hard by remnants of Typhoon Halong over the weekend, with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management stating they experienced hurricane-force winds, some areas in gusts in excess of 100 mph. “Significant” storm surges leading to widespread flooding were also recorded, it said.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration on Thursday as the state was already being negatively impacted by the storm. On Sunday, he expanded that order, making available state public and other assistance programs to those affected in the named in the region.
He said Kipnuk and Kwigillingok had been “hard hit” and that rescue aircraft were on their way.
“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm,” he said in a Sunday evening release.
In Kipnuk, where water levels reached 6.6 feet above high tide overnight, 172 people had sought shelter, according to the state.
In Kwigillingok, water levels reached a height of 6.3 feet above high tide and more than 100 people required shelter. At least four homes were “inundated,” it said.
The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon that the storm was continuing to move across Alaska’s west coast, with high wind warnings to remain in effect through Monday Morning for Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound and through Tuesday morning for the northwest Alaska coast.
For some areas, coastal flooding warnings will remain in effect through Tuesday morning.