Ex-typhoon Halong spares Nome, Norton Sound and Bering Strait from worst

One woman was recovered dead, and two persons are still missing in Kwigillingok after ex-typhoon Halong ravaged villages along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta last weekend.
As of Tuesday, the state’s Emergency Operations Center reported that response to the disaster is ongoing. According to the state, more than 1,400 people were displaced and are currently in 12 shelters.  
                   
In the Norton Sound and Bering Strait region, no loss of life or serious damage was reported. The region had prepared for forecasted storm surges, and several Shaktoolik residents and elders were evacuating to nearby communities by boat and airplane. As of Tuesday, they are finding their way back home.
Storm surges did not materialize in Nome. To everybody’s surprise, the water level near Nome was low. While strong winds up to 58 mph recorded in Nome roiled the ocean, the waves did not get anywhere near the seawall or rose significantly at Belmont Point.
After the October 8 storm, the DOT reported some damage to the Nome-Council Highway near mile 16.5 and just past the Safety Bridge, but no damage following last weekend’s storm. DOT spokeswoman Angelica Stabs reported to the Nugget that the Nome-Council Road experienced significant sections of erosion during that storm. “We are still collecting specific damage assessments, as there is still a lot that is unknown at the moment,” she wrote. Stabs could not provide any information on the damage caused by ex-typhoon Halong over the weekend but reports from residents on the ground indicate that not much damage occurred. All airports in the region are operational as of Tuesday afternoon.
Stabs reported that the roadway between Teller Old Town and the new site experienced moderate scouring along the coastline, with significant erosion and embankment loss, during the Oct. 8 storm.
She also said Shishmaref reported to have had some flooding, debris, and erosion along the access road leading out of town near the runway.
“We are still collecting damage assessments from the areas, as many places have been impacted by both storms,” Stabs wrote.
Leading up to the storm, forecasts focused on Golovin, Shaktoolik and Unalakleet to be vulnerable to high storm surges, but the forecasted heights offered a wide range between the minimum and maximum surge potential. Some damage was recorded, but not at levels feared. As the communities are just now beginning to take stock, here is what we know as of Tuesday afternoon:

Shaktoolik
Ginger Perry of Shaktoolik said that there are at least 14 homes with damaged roofing and siding, as well as multiple sheds that have roofing damage or that were blown over. Perry was the point of contact at the school during the storm itself and was there all weekend. She reported that at the height of the storm, there were about 30 people sheltering in the school. School was cancelled on Monday, but resumed again on Tuesday with normal hours. Perry said that the city is keeping track of those who have applied for individual assistance and will send the city shop construction crew for labor assistance with temporary repairs. The power and water and sewer infrastructure is intact. No reports of road damage were received.
Many community members voluntarily evacuated to Unalakleet. Others evacuated upriver to personal cabins to wait out the storm. Gloria Andrew said that the choice to head upriver was a safety precaution.
“Even though the storm and water surge didn’t reach our homes, or completely take out the berm, I felt safer up the river than staying home in the village,” she said over text. Andrew said that there is damage to structures, but “nothing major.” Heather Andrews of Bering Air said as of late Tuesday morning that everyone has been able to return to Shaktoolik. Andrews said that she had heard that some people had damaged roofs and damaged caches because of the high winds. Shaktoolik’s FAA weather station is offline.

Unalakleet
Kelsi Ivanoff of Unalakleet said that there was no flooding reported in the city but that there were high winds. The winds ripped off part of the roof of the post office. On Monday afternoon, there was a post-storm meeting to begin assessing damage. There was a city-wide cleanup planned for Tuesday. The top wind speed in Unalakleet was 73 mph.

Golovin
Golovin Tribal President Dean Peterson said that while there was some wind damage to buildings, it was nothing major. State Senator Donny Olson said that the city created a berm to protect homes and a berm to protect the electrical power. Olson said that while there were some “electricity problems”, there were no city power outages. The top wind speed in Golovin was 68 mph. No flooding occurred.

St. Michael
St. Michael City Clerk Dolores Otten said that as of Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., there was no erosion reported. The winds caused some electrical poles to lean. Community members of Stebbins went to St. Michael to shelter during the storm.  The wind caused structural damage – the St. Michael city building’s stairs separated from the main building during the storm. The top wind speed in St. Michael was 81 mph.

Stebbins
The main issue in Stebbins was the wind that whipped debris around. Several families lost their arctic entries and some buildings, including the school and several houses, sustained roof damages. Most people in Stebbins headed to the IRA or to family members who live up the hill for shelter. City trucks assisted with shuffling people to and from safe homes. There were no power outages but a few Alaska Village Electrical Company poles are leaning and a few residential homes lost power because of loose wires and poles. 

Elim
In Elim, the City of Elim and the Native Village of Elim shared resources to bring residential boats down from Moses Point east of Elim  ahead of the storm. City Clerk Matthew Murray reports that everyone remained safe during the storm, although the power on the east side of town went out. As of Monday afternoon, they are waiting for an Alaska Village Electrical Company repairman. The top wind speed in Elim was 61 mph. 

Koyuk
Tracey Kimoktoak of Koyuk said that she had not heard of any significant damages and that people mostly stayed inside to ride out the storm. The top wind speed in Koyuk was 54 mph.

Nome
Sunday in Nome was eerily calm, quiet and sunny. Until noon. Then winds coming from the southwest began blowing hard, reaching their peak at 58 mph. But water did not rise anywhere near flooding levels and no damage was reported in Nome. Loose roof material at Hanson’s flopped in the wind but did not come off.
City Manager Lee Smith said in Nome, no damage was reported to city facilities. He lauded how well all agencies and organizations came together to form a unified command group prior to the storm. Smith is new to Nome, but not new to hurricane disasters, and said, “Besides not getting hit hard, I call it a success, because I know I learned a lot.” He said there will be a debriefing on Thursday to go over things that worked well and those that need improvements.
Nome Joint Utilities Field Operations Superintendent Thomas Simonsson reported no major interruptions to NJUS power or water services. “We deployed our linecrew a handful of times to respond to debris that had caused some damage which was contained within very minor areas of our system,” he said in an email to the Nugget. “We had prepared for much greater impact and we are grateful much of the storm bypassed Nome. Our thoughts are with villages that evidently were hit unimaginable.”
By Monday things were back to normal in Nome. Indigenous People’s Day celebrations were held as announced.
Bering Air resumed flying their scheduled flights on Monday. According to Bering Air President Russell Rowe, two Bering Air helicopters have been dispatched to Bethel to assist state DOT efforts to survey and assess damage to runways, the coastline and infrastructure.
As the winds shifted in Norton Sound and Nome to the southwest, no damages were reported in communities north of Nome.

Teller
Teller Mayor Blanche Okbaok-Garnie reports that the community’s biggest concern was the state highway and Front Avenue directly adjacent to Grantley Harbor. She had marked the road with reflectorized trail stakes in case of flooding as it is the only evacuation route from the low-lying Teller village. While residents report high winds, data is not available. The Teller FAA weather station – as well as Shishmaref’s – are not reporting. Garnie said that the wind direction coming from the west “saved us.” Winds coming from the south are problematic for Teller.

Kotzebue
Kotzebue was inundated with rising waters in the Oct. 8 storm and are recovering from that incident. During the remnants of Halong, 10 people were sheltered in Kotzebue. According to the state emergency operations center, the Northwest Arctic Borough and Red Cross began damage assessments on Monday. The SEOC emergency management specialist remains in Kotzebue to assist the NWAB and City of Kotzebue with resource needs as they develop.

According to Jeremy Zideck, giving a state emergency operations center update on Tuesday, impacts to the Norton Sound/Nome area are reported as minimal. SEOC Emergency Management Specialists are demobilizing from Nome as of Tuesday.
State of Alaska Individual Assistance Disaster survivors in the designated disaster area can register for the state’s Individual Assistance program by visiting the DHS&EM registration webpage at [https://ready.alaska.gov/ia] (https://ready.alaska.gov/ia). Telephone registration is available at 1-844-445-7131. The State’s Individual Assistance program is designed to provide financial assistance to individuals or families for damage to a primary residence, primary mode of transportation, essential personal property, and medical/funeral/dental needs created as a direct result of a declared disaster.
 Governor Dunleavy has amended the October 9 disaster declaration to include all areas impacted by Typhoon Halong. Currently, 49 communities are reporting impacts.