At least 30 rescued in Alaska floods as military teams rush to remote villages

Rescue teams from the Alaska Air and Army national guard units and Coast Guard have sent a wave of aircraft and personnel to the site of massive flooding in remote villages far from roads or major cities. Entire homes were seen floating away as floods hit remotes villages along Alaska’s western coast.

The Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and U.S. Coast Guard all sent helicopters and C-130 cargo planes towards Kipnuk and Kwigillingok to locate and rescue missing or displaced people. Both are isolated coastal fishing villages accessible only by boat or air, about 400 miles from Anchorage and 70 miles from Bethel, the closest large town with a developed runway, though flooding had covered at least one end of it over the weekend.

At least eight homes in the towns have been pushed from their foundations.

“At least 18 people were rescued in Kwigillingok and at least 16 people were rescued in Kipnuk,” the Alaska State Troopers said Sunday evening. No deaths have been reported, but several people are believed missing, according to the Alaska National Guard, with at least three in Kwigillingok and an unspecified number in Kipnuk.

The two towns have about 1000 residents between them, accoding to U.S. Census data. “Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement on Sunday.

Typhoon Halong tore through the Pacific past week, hitting Japan with heavy rains as it moved north. It made landfall in Alaska over the weekend, bringing winds of up to 100 miles per hour, storm surge and heavy flooding. Some of the hardest hit areas were in the Kuskokwim River delta, with the remote villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok seeing homes swept off their foundation from the storm.

Alaska’s Air and Army national guard both routinely respond to civilian calls for help around the mostly-roadless state in helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The Coast Guard maintains a number of active units around the state.

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In response to the flooding , the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th Wing dispatched HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, a HC-130J Combat King II plane and multiple pararescuemen and combat rescue officers. The Alaska Army National Guard mobilized two Black Hawk helicopters, one from Bethel and one from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The Coast Guard sent two MH-60 Jayhawks and a HC-130J Hercules plane from Air Station Kodiak.

Of those forces, only the 176th’s helicopters are air refuelable, a capability that would be required to rapidly reach the towns from Anchorage.

Additionally military facilities including the Alaska National Guard’s Bethel Readiness Center were set up as shelters for those who needed to be evacuated.