Bering Sea storm brings erosion and flooding to Western Alaska communities

This article originally appeared at KYUK.org and is republished here with permission.

A series of large storms has left some Western Alaska communities grappling with flooding and erosion. Some residents report that the flooding is worse than during Typhoon Merbok, and that it rivals this year’s historic breakup floods on the Kuskokwim River.

In Tuntutuliak, on the lower Kuskokwim, a community member reported to the National Weather Service that at least two houses had been inundated.

In Napakiak, already rapid erosion marching toward the community’s school has reportedly come within 6 feet of the gym, creating safety concerns. According to Napakiak resident Bethany Hale, water levels began rising rapidly around 1 p.m. Sunday but appeared to be receding as of that evening.

Upriver in Akiak, community members have reported riverbank erosion of between 10 and 20 feet due to the storm, along with swamped boats and lost fishing nets.

In Bethel, the city government closed the south boat harbor and East Avenue because of flooding. As of the evening of Aug. 18, the Kuskokwim River gauge at Brown’s Slough recorded a level of 9.52 feet, well into the minor flooding stage.

Earlier that afternoon, Bethel Search and Rescue reported water over the roadway at multiple locations along the Bethel riverfront and wind gusts of up to 50 mph.

According to Christian Landry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage, strong onshore winds have been holding an already swollen Kuskokwim River in place.

“The river wants to pour out and exit into the Bering Sea. It’s having trouble doing that with all of the wave action, and the winds, and all of the new rainfall dropping into the river, so it’s swelling beyond capacity,” Landry said.

The National Weather Service has extended a flood warning for Kuskokwim River communities to include Tuntutuliak and the tundra villages of Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk, and Atmautluak, effective through 6 p.m. Monday.

A coastal flood advisory for the Kuskokwim Delta was lifted on the evening of Aug. 18. Images posted on social media just hours before showed widespread inundation in Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where one resident said that the flooding was the worst in more than three decades.

The rain, flooding, and erosion have been caused by the second in a series of storms to hit Southwest Alaska in the past week. The first weather system off the Bering Sea began blasting the region on Aug. 15, tapering off before the weekend.

Earlier this week, a National Weather Service meteorologist said that he believed that the impact of the high winds and surf from the second storm were made more severe by the rare super blue moon that will peak on Monday. According to Landry, meteorologists are still unsure what the impacts will look like for a third storm forecast to hit the region, considered to be the remnants of Typhoon Ampil.

“It appears that this system is going to push mostly to the north of the area. It will bring potentially another round of rain by late [Tuesday] afternoon. However, how potent that wave will be is not entirely certain,” Landry said.