One of the worst storms to hit Alaska in the past half-century was expected to hit the western part of the state over the weekend, meteorologists warned, as a dangerous weather system threw strong winds of nearly 90 miles per hour and heavy rain. warned that it would bring and create considerable coastal areas. flood.
Tropical storm remnant Typhoon Merbok was forecast to move northward over the Bering Sea region from Friday to Sunday. According to the Japan Meteorological AgencyCoastal flood warnings and gale warnings have been issued for Nome, Stebbins to the south, Point Hope to the north, and other areas.
“It could be one of the worst storms on the West Coast in at least 50 years,” said Scott Berg, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Conditions along the southern coast of the Bering Strait were expected to head north by Friday evening.
Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the state’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said that because much of the danger zone is low-lying and flat, state emergency officials are primarily concerned with “wind-driven ocean storm surges.” ” he said.
Preparedness for such storms in a vast geographic area, where communities often consist of hundreds of people or less and are far from each other, Zidek said, is critical for state emergency officials. Deploying additional firefighters and other resources to communities before a storm makes sense in more populated areas, but is impractical in Alaska, he said.
There are few roads between communities, and the roads that do exist are often impassable, so “we need to take a wait-and-see approach before deploying the limited resources we have,” Zidek said. He said and added: “Alaska is a different animal.”
Coastal flooding is expected south of the Bering Strait, and water levels could rise 12 feet above normal high tide in parts of the Seward Peninsula, weather forecasters said. “Strong and harmful” gusts of up to 90 miles per hour were predicted along the coast.
“Residents along the coast south of the Bering Strait are encouraged to complete preparations quickly,” a meteorologist urged in Thursday night’s weather statement.State Departments of Transportation and Public Facilities Officials they said they were monitoring the situation Assess the damage when the storm has passed.Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management gave the same message.
North of the Bering Strait, storm conditions are expected to be less severe with gusts of up to 65 mph and a coastal flood warning has been issued for Kotzebue Sound and the Chukchi Sea coast beginning Saturday morning. Water levels in the Kotzebue area are 5 feet above normal high tide and can rise up to 7 feet along the Chukotka coast.
Berg said potential infrastructure damage was a top concern for most communities in the storm’s path.
“We’re looking at flooding communities,” he said, adding that the airstrips that small villages rely on to supply supplies and fly to and from towns may be flooding in certain areas. Widespread power outages were also possible due to high winds.
“We do get some storms over the winter, but this is a pretty serious storm pushing water into an area that hasn’t seen flooding in probably 50 years or more,” he said.
Residents of western Alaska may remember when a powerful system with hurricane-strength winds swept through the area in 2011, causing power outages. At the time, the Japan Meteorological Agency described the storm as “rarely experienced.” Schools scattered around the area acted as shelters and provided food for residents.
In Nome, which has a population of less than 10,000 and where this weekend’s coastal flooding could be 11 feet higher than normal high tide, officials have been in preparedness mode. told the Associated Press Establishment of an emergency shelter. “We know the drill and where it usually hits,” he said, because of previous storms.
Vimal Patel contributed to the report.