Alaska Storm Blasts Its Western Coast; Extensive Damage, People Missing

Flooding from Alaska that swept homes off their
foundations, and left people missing. Nearly
three dozen people were rescued. 

Because we in the media are so concentrated here, the East Coast nor'easter is getting all the weather attention.

But a much worse storm has hit Alaska, causing extreme destruction and an as yet unknown number of deaths.  Alaska

As the Associated Press reports:

"....the remnants of Typhoon Halong brought hurricane force winds and catastrophic flooding to coastal communities, pushing entire houses off their foundations. 

Rescue aircraft were sent to the tiny Alaskan villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where there were were reports of up to 20 people possibly unaccounted for, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesperson for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 

'We have received reports that people's homes have floated away and that people were potentially in those homes,' Zidek told the Associated Press. At least eight homes were swept away in Kipnuk and at least four homes were swept away in nearby Kwigillingok, Zidek said."

The Anchorage Daily News came back with a hopeful update this afternoon (EDT) saying 34 people had been rescued in or near those two towns, and three people remained missing.  Tides were as much as  6.6 feet above normal, which is a record high for the area. Wind gusts reached 100 mph in Toksook Bay before the sensors stopped working.

In Bethel, workers were trying to clear debris from the airport runways to keep it open. High winds kept blowing the stuff onto the airport property. Winds in Bethel gusted to at least 71 mph. 

Typhoon Halong curved southeast of Japan on October 8 and 9 before heading into somewhat cooler waters in the North Pacific. Although Halong became a non-tropical storm, it still gained energy from above normal water temperatures in the North Pacific. 

The storm slammed into Alaska during Sunday. As of today, winds and storm tides were tapering off.