Water levels subside as Northwest Alaska storm dies down
Oct. 9—Utgiagvik Storm
A storm that caused damage and flooding along Northwest Alaska's coast this week had died down by Saturday morning, with elevated water levels dropping significantly in communities from Utqiaġvik to Point Lay.
"This storm is done causing impacts to the Arctic coast into the Chukchi Sea region," Jonathan Chriest, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said Saturday afternoon.
A coastal flood warning that had been in place for several communities along the coast was lifted early Saturday morning. Along the Chukchi Sea coast, communities saw tides drop by early Saturday, according to Chriest.
"It's a beautiful day out," said Billy Adams, reached at home in Utqiaġvik by phone Saturday. "The storm is over but the work is just beginning."
A day earlier, Utqiaġvik residents had described flooding in different parts of the community, including at the Sadie Neakok playground and the outdoor area where the city holds its annual whaling feast. A photo by Nelda Nungasak taken Friday morning showed white-capped waves bearing down on flooded Stevenson Street, a main road that parallels the water's edge, as if the Arctic Ocean were moving inland.
Utqiagvik Flooding
Adams listened to waves crashing all night Friday, and said he was happy to see that the waves had subsided and high winds had died down by Saturday morning.
"We only had 30 mph winds. If it had been greater than 40, things would have been much worse," Adams said.
A couple buildings on lower ground were still surrounded by water, he said, expressing concern about some homes near the beach in an area with significant erosion. He said that some of the water that overflowed into the lagoon had subsided Saturday.
During the worst of the storm, the weather service received numerous reports of damage, including power outages in Savoonga that began Wednesday night; roofs and windows damaged in Kivalina; water over the east end of the old runway in Golovin; a dock damaged and seawater entering the lagoon at Point Lay; and damage to the school roof in Wales.
Chriest said no additional significant flooding or damage had been reported Friday night into Saturday.
Since Thursday, several communities saw water well above what's normal, though nowhere near the level of flooding experienced during September's typhoon system.
This storm was "exceptionally strong," Chriest said, with west winds blowing waves onshore.
It followed on the heels of the destructive remnants of Typhoon Merbok, which last month left a path of destruction in Western Alaska, washing out roads and flooding homes in 40 communities along about 1,300 miles of Alaska's coast.
Chriest said the weather service is currently monitoring yet another storm system that will likely be moving south out of the high Arctic on Tuesday "and bringing some additional elevated surf and strong winds to the Arctic coast."
"We don't anticipate the winds to be as high nor the water to be as high as with this most recent storm. But we are expecting southwest winds gusting 45 to 55 miles per hour down from Utqiaġvik to Point Hope," he said.
Daily News reporters Alena Naiden and Zaz Hollander contributed to this story.
