Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has always been a place of extremes—isolated, harsh, and home to resilient Indigenous communities. But in mid-October 2025, the region faced one of its greatest challenges yet. On October 11 and 12, the remnants of Typhoon Halong unleashed hurricane-force winds and catastrophic flooding across the delta, devastating villages only reachable by plane, boat, or snowmobile. According to Inside Climate News, more than 1,500 people were evacuated from their homes, and the toll was grim: at least one person died, and two more remain missing.
The storm’s impact was supercharged by unseasonably warm waters in the North Pacific, a phenomenon that climate experts say is increasingly common as global temperatures rise. The tail of Typhoon Halong fueled the largest storm surge ever recorded in the delta, with the coastal village of Kipnuk experiencing water levels 6.6 feet higher than the typical daily high tide—nearly two feet above the previous record, reports Yale Climate Connections. The U.S. Coast Guard described scenes of devastation, with homes swept from their foundations and residents forced to cling to debris in the darkness as floodwaters surged through their communities.
“Several of these villages have been completely devastated, absolutely flooded, several feet deep,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Christopher Culpepper said at a press conference. “This took homes off of foundations. This took people into peril, where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the cover of darkness.”
In the days following the storm, the Coast Guard scrambled to deliver supplies and evacuate survivors by air—a herculean task given the region’s remoteness. More than 2,000 evacuees remain displaced in cities like Anchorage and Bethel, with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy warning that many won’t be able to return home for at least 18 months. The destruction was so complete in some villages that entire communities must now weigh whether to rebuild or relocate altogether.
But the storm’s devastation was not just a product of nature. Some experts have pointed to recent policy decisions that may have hampered preparedness and response. According to CNN, earlier in 2025 the Trump administration cut weather balloon coverage in Western Alaska—an essential tool for tracking wind speed, air temperature, and humidity. Forecasts failed to predict the storm’s dramatic shift toward the delta until less than two days before landfall, leaving little time for evacuation. In addition, The New York Times reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency canceled a $20 million flood protection grant for Kipnuk in May. While an EPA spokesperson told Inside Climate News that the funding would not have prevented the mass destruction, the loss of resources has left some residents feeling abandoned.
The federal response has also come under scrutiny. Despite urgent requests from Governor Dunleavy, Alaska politicians, and the Alaska Federation of Natives, President Donald Trump has not declared a national emergency for the disaster as of October 17. This decision blocks access to certain federal funds for evacuation and recovery. “For an event of this size, that is extremely unusual. It should have been signed the day of or day after the governor requested,” Samantha Montano, an emergency management expert, told Inside Climate News.
Recovery in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is uniquely challenging. The region is hundreds of miles from the nearest road system, and communications infrastructure is sparse. “Remote in Alaska does not mean the same as remote in Montana,” said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Communications in that part of Southwest Alaska are very poor. Internet connectivity is unreliable and intermittent. They don’t even get good radio reception.”
Language and cultural barriers further complicate disaster response. Most residents of Kipnuk speak traditional Yup’ik as their first language, making it essential to have responders who can communicate effectively. Samantha Montano highlighted the importance of cultural competence, noting the role of Alaska Army National Guard’s Pvt. Alan Borbridge, who spoke Yup’ik to evacuees in Bethel. “In emergency management, anytime that you can have people responding who have shared experiences with the people who are being impacted by the disaster, it can lead to a more effective response,” Montano said. “I think it is really important in terms of building trust between responders and survivors.”
For the evacuees, the trauma is not just physical but psychological. Many are struggling to adapt to life in larger, noisier cities far from the land where their ancestors have lived for generations. “When we talk about recovery, we very often are talking about the physical recovery—rebuilding houses and roads and whatnot,” Montano said. “But the psychological recovery from disasters is just as important and in many ways much, much more complicated.”
The question now facing many survivors is whether to return and rebuild or to start anew elsewhere. Some, like tribal leader Mike Williams Sr. from Akiak, are deeply pessimistic. “We’re not going to be well. Storms are going to get worse, and it’s not going to be livable,” Williams told the Alaska Beacon. “We’re past the tipping point, maybe.”
Even the logistics of recovery are daunting. As temperatures in Western Alaska drop below freezing, flooded areas may not dry out until spring 2026, making it nearly impossible to rebuild before then. And while evacuating people was difficult, bringing in contractors and construction materials to repair homes and infrastructure will be even tougher. “Just putting up houses where they were and doing nothing else to protect them is just a recipe for another disaster,” Thoman warned.
Tribal leaders are calling for a more central role in recovery decisions, criticizing their exclusion from recent government press conferences. “The governor of Alaska had a big press conference the other day, and there were no tribal leaders on the stage,” Thoman noted. “That was not a good thing, in my view, because the tribes need to be at the front and center of what happens in these communities going forward.”
The storm in Alaska is just one example of the growing toll of climate-fueled disasters across North America and the world. In recent weeks, more than 60 people died in Mexico due to extreme rainfall and flooding, while wildfires and government shutdowns have complicated environmental protection efforts in the contiguous United States. As climate change accelerates, the frequency and severity of such events are only expected to increase, leaving vulnerable communities with ever more difficult choices about their future.
In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the path forward remains uncertain. But as survivors grapple with loss and displacement, their resilience and determination to preserve their culture and way of life shine through the darkness left by Typhoon Halong.
