Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Typhoon Hai Long topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State official says Typhoon Hai Long left 650+ homes damaged and hundreds displaced; long recovery ahead
Summary
Brian Fisher, Alaska’s state coordinating officer for the Typhoon Hai Long response, told the Joint Armed Services Committee that more than 650 homes were destroyed or badly damaged and "upwards of 700" households were displaced; the state is moving survivors into hotels now and planning winter and spring recovery with FEMA and housing partners.
Brian Fisher, director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, told the Joint Armed Services Committee on Nov. 12 that the storms in Western Alaska represent "the worst that I have seen in my 31 years of service." He said the state is currently tracking more than 650 homes that are destroyed or have suffered major damage and "upwards of 700 individuals and households" displaced from communities in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Delta regions.
Fisher said immediate rescue operations in the hardest‑hit villages involved the Alaska Army and Air National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard, including hoist rescues when homes were washed away by storm surge. "The heroic efforts of our soldiers, airmen, and sailors, doing those rescues was really something, like, I've never seen in this state before," he told the committee.
Most displaced people initially were sheltered in congregate locations — the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Alaska Airlines Center and the Egan Center — and have since been moved into hotel units in Southcentral Alaska. Fisher said the state is coordinating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and plans to use federal disaster programs to secure longer‑term, temporary housing over winter, and then larger repair and reconstruction efforts in spring and summer when barges can deliver materials.
State agencies and contractors are carrying out emergency repairs and muck‑and‑gut work on homes and critical infrastructure. Fisher listed the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Department of Natural Resources (including forestry and fire protection), and the Department of Environmental Conservation among agencies involved in restoring roads, power, water and wastewater systems and addressing household hazardous waste and fuel spills.
Fisher also described mitigation steps that will be included where funding and authority allow — for example, elevating rebuilt homes and installing more resilient piling under boardwalks. He said the state is working with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, regional housing authorities and commercial property owners to secure warm temporary housing for displaced families.
Members asked about the size and timing of military support during response operations. Fisher said the organized militia and Guard components provided "well over 200" service members in the response and that mobilization occurred "pretty much immediately." He agreed to provide a detailed component‑level breakdown to the committee as a follow‑up. On funding, Fisher said that, with a presidential disaster declaration in place for parts of the impacted region, much of the early cost incurred for aviation, personnel and emergency repairs is expected to be reimbursable through federal disaster programs.
The committee did not take formal action; Fisher indicated emergency winterization work will continue while conditions permit and that larger reconstruction and mitigation work will resume in spring and summer next year. He remains available to provide the committee additional staffing and cost details.
