00:00Hundreds of people living in remote villages in western Alaska were airlifted to safety Thursday.
00:06The mass evacuations come after the remnants of Typhoon Halong brought high winds and heavy rains to the region Sunday,
00:13which caused flooding that destroyed homes in Kipnook and Kwilingak.
00:19The water rose more than six feet higher than the usual highest tide level, according to the Associated Press.
00:25One person is confirmed dead due to the flooding, and at least two people are missing.
00:30More than 1,400 people have been forced to leave their homes.
00:34Residents spoke with the Associated Press about the harrowing ordeal.
00:37It's a nightmare what we went through.
00:43But I thank God we are together.
00:48It was like a big earthquake, especially with water.
00:52We were scared that the glass window was going to break because the water was hidden.
00:59The water was hidden the window really pretty hard.
01:02The storm caused historic flooding that destroyed homes in native low-lying communities.
01:07The flooding was so powerful that entire homes were swept away.
01:11Tragically, some people were still inside those homes when it happened.
01:14The villages are so remote that during this time of year, they can only be reached by boat or plane,
01:21since they aren't connected to the state's main road system.
01:24Now, because of this, many people had to be flown by military plane to Anchorage,
01:29which is about 500 miles east, in order to find safety and temporary housing.
01:34Evacuees were given a safe place to stay.
01:36The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter at the Alaska Airlines Sports Center.
01:40In our village, we'd say that we're native strong.
01:44We have native pride, and nothing can break us down.
01:48But this is the hardest that we went through.
01:51But everybody's sticking together.
01:52The village of Kipnuk is sticking together.
01:55Everybody's talking to each other, making sure everybody's okay.
01:58Hugging them and making sure that they have everything they need.
02:03So everybody's taking care of everybody.
02:06We're all thankful that we're all alive.
02:09The Associated Press spoke to a climate specialist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks who said
02:14rebuilding will be tough, especially with winter approaching.
02:18I think the main thing I would re-stress is that the recovery is just complicated because these are remote communities,
02:28because there is no road connections.
02:31And many of the airstrips, you know, are not big enough.
02:35You can't physically land, you know, a jet aircraft in there to haul in lots of supplies.
02:43They're not built for that.
02:45Vice President J.D. Vance said the federal government is working closely with Senator Dan Sullivan and Governor Mike Dunleavy to get residents the help that they need.
02:54President Trump and I are closely tracking the storm devastation that resulted in over 1,000 citizens being airlifted out of Alaska villages.
03:01Alaskans, our prayers are with you, Vance posted on X.
03:07For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan.
03:09If you want more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com.
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