State and local officials prepare four shelters in Anchorage that could potentially accommodate more than 1,000 people displaced by unprecedented catastrophic storms that left entire communities in western Alaska largely uninhabitable.
As the municipality helps the state with its response, a total of 2,000 people evacuated by the storm from villages in the Yukon Delta and Kuskokwim could ultimately be evacuated to Anchorage, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said Thursday. That gap will likely be filled by people staying with friends and family in town or elsewhere, potentially in hotel rooms, officials said.
About 260 people from the storm-damaged communities of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok arrived in Anchorage on a historic airlift from Bethel on Wednesday and are being housed in a mass shelter inside the Alaska Airlines Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage. They arrived with only one bag, and some with just the clothes on their backs.
Another 400 evacuees were expected Thursday, the city said.
A third wave of hundreds more evacuees could begin arriving Friday, according to the city.
To accommodate displaced families, the city and its partners, including the American Red Cross, State Office of Emergency Management and the Alaska National Guard, are opening three additional emergency shelters to house expected evacuees.
The shelters will be located at the downtown Egan Center and the Fairview and Spenard Recreation Centers, in addition to the Alaska Airlines Center. Between the four, the city can temporarily accommodate around 1,400 people, according to information from the municipality.
“We want to be a partner here and recognize the devastation and loss that people have endured in Western Alaska,” LaFrance said. “I ask all of our residents here in Anchorage to welcome those displaced with open arms.”
Emergency management authorities say people could be evacuated not only from the two hardest-hit communities, but also from about 15 villages where homes have been ripped from their foundations, crushed, moved for miles by tides or contaminated by floodwaters. Some of the 2,000 potential evacuees expected to come to Anchorage may find housing with family members or be able to rent private homes independently.
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It’s unclear how long the immediate shelter needs will last: LaFrance said she expects some of those evacuated will have to stay in Anchorage through the winter. The mayor declared that The municipality is working with the state and tribal leaders to find hotel rooms and other temporary housing options.
LaFrance said she recognizes that housing in Anchorage is already limited, especially as homeless shelters prepare to increase capacity as winter approaches.
“Clearly, the needs are increasing with this disaster in western Alaska, and it is unclear how many people will be able to return to these communities at this time, or when and how they will be rebuilt,” she said. “In the meantime, we are working closely with partners and looking for ways to help rapidly develop different types of housing. »
“We want to do everything we can to ensure that people have what they need to heal, recover and rebuild and hopefully be able to reconnect with their communities,” LaFrance said.
The Anchorage Assembly is holding an emergency meeting Friday that will help the municipality continue to support the state’s emergency response teams. Assembly members will consider temporarily expanding the definition of a civil emergency to include a state or federally declared disaster.
Under the current form of Anchorage code, civil emergencies generally apply to disasters that occur within the municipality. If the mayor is able to declare a civil emergency, it will help the city receive reimbursement for emergency-related expenses, said Emily Goodykoontz, a city spokeswoman. It’s too early to estimate costs, Goodykoontz said.
“A loss felt by all”
The storm and ongoing evacuations dominated discussions at the 59th annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, which opened Thursday in Anchorage.
Speakers at the three-day event – one of the largest gatherings of indigenous peoples in the world – shared messages of hope and resilience. They prayed for victims who lost property or loved ones.
“As we open this conference today, our hearts remain with those affected by this severe weather event,” said Ana Hoffman, co-president of the Native Federation and a resident of the hardest-hit region of southwest Alaska.
“Our destruction is a loss felt by all,” she said.
The organization is holding a donation drive to collect clothing, food, water, bedding and other items for victims Friday and Saturday.
Displays above the convention hall promoted online fundraisers, with QR codes directing donors to websites for an Alaska Community Foundation fund and an Amazon wish list.
Early in the day, traditional dancers from Southeast Alaska performed a Haida blanket dance, raising more than $4,500 to help displaced families.
They beat skin drums and placed a traditional blanket on the stage to raise money. Dozens of conventioneers formed a long line to donate money.
Mary Ayunerak of Anakuk threw away a $20 bill.
“I have to help,” she said.
During the convention’s opening invocation, Theresa John of Toksook Bay prayed in Yup’ik, the Native language of southwest Alaska.
She spoke of resilience and optimism, said Hoffman, a Yup’ik speaker.
“She talked about the rising waters and how through the grace of the universe the survival rate was high,” Hoffman said during a break in the meeting, performing the Yup’ik prayer.
Delegates to the western Alaska convention sang a hymn, Nanraumali Atanerput in Yup’ik, or Praise the Lord, with lyrics asking God to provide shelter.
Alan Peter, from the village of Nunam Iqua in western Alaska, bowed his head and sobbed during the song. Others came closer to comfort him.
Peter said Ella Mae Kashatok, Chester Kashatok and Vernon Pavil were his cousins. Ella Mae Kashatok was found dead in Kwigillingok following the storm, and the other two people, also Kwigillingok residents, are still missing.
“I was mourning my family,” he said in an interview, adding that it was too difficult to say more.
“We are in the same boat”
Hoffman said the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., a large tribal health consortium in southwest Alaska, approved a resolution calling on President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency, joining the Association of Village Council Presidents, another tribal entity in the region.
Bryan Fisher, the state’s emergency management director, said at the convention that the evacuation efforts are the largest in Alaska’s history. Some people whose homes were damaged won’t be able to return home this year, he said.
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Fisher said Gov. Mike Dunleavy has discussed with President Donald Trump the possibility of bringing in federal resources and agencies to help with the response.
He added that a state program would provide cash assistance for repairs and reconstruction and help displaced families find temporary housing, either in their home community or region or elsewhere.
“We are in this together and we will not leave your side throughout this tragic event,” Fisher said, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd.
Meanwhile, evacuees flocked to Anchorage and a new chapter in their lives.
On Thursday afternoon, Buggy Carl, a Kipnuk tribal administrator who posted frequent video updates throughout the storm and recovery, sent a dispatch from inside the military plane that took him and hundreds of others to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
He checked in again from the bus off base, then once again from what he described as “the new community of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok” at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage, gesturing to family members in the background. The tears continued for many of his fellow citizens in Kipnuk, he said.
“They realize that most of the people’s homes are lost.”
