Severe Storms Wiped Out Entire Villages in Western Alaska. Here’s How to Help.
Earthjustice stands with western Alaska tribes and families after severe storms devastated entire communities, displacing more than 1,000 residents just before winter.
Recent severe storms, including the remnant storm from Typhoon Halong, brought hurricane-force winds, widespread damage, and record flooding to multiple western Alaska villages last week. At least 15 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region have sustained substantial damage.
Buildings flooded and were torn apart, and in some cases, homes were pushed from their foundations and floated away with people still in them. Nearly all homes in the two hardest-hit villages, Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, are now uninhabitable. One woman died in Kwigillingok and two others remain missing.
The aftermath of the storms in Kotlik, Alaska, on Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Adaline Pete)
Like in other parts of the world, storms in Alaska are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more destructive because of the loss of sea ice, warmer ocean temperatures, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels attributed to climate change.
In the aftermath of the recent storms, residents from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were rescued and transported to emergency shelters within their communities or in neighboring villages. Since then, almost everyone from those two villages has been flown by military transport planes to Anchorage, hundreds of miles away. Most people who had to leave their villages could take only a few belongings.
A member of the Alaska Air National Guard helps rescue a dog from ex-Typhoon Halong in Alaska. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moon)
With winter on its way, and the destruction so vast, it’s not clear yet if or when people will be able to return home.
- If you would like to help the communities in need of emergency supplies and shelter as they begin to rebuild, we recommend contributing to the Alaska Community Foundation’s Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund, established by local and regional tribal organizations and partners to accept monetary donations.
- You can donate online or make checks payable to the Alaska Community Foundation with “Western Alaska Disaster Relief” in the memo line and mail to Alaska Community Foundation, 3201 C Street, Suite 110, Anchorage, AK 99503.
- For news updates, visit Alaska Public Media’s webpage on the storms.
Earthjustice stands with tribes, families, our friends, clients and partners, and everyone affected by these storms in Alaska, as the rescue response continues.
An aerial view of the flooding caused by ex-Typhoon Halong in the Western Arctic. Hundreds were displaced from their homes. (Courtesy of Alaska National Guard)
Opened in 1978, our Alaska regional office works to safeguard public lands, waters, and wildlife from destructive oil and gas drilling, mining, and logging, and to protect the region's marine and coastal ecosystems.