Alaska emergency chief says Typhoon Halong and West Coast storms were largest disaster of his career; warns of shrinking federal mitigation support

Brian Fisher, director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told a joint House Tribal Affairs and Community and Regional Affairs hearing in Juneau that the recent chain of West Coast storms—including the remnants of Typhoon Halong—constituted the largest incident of his 31‑year career and has produced catastrophic impacts in several western Alaska communities.

Fisher said the state Emergency Operations Center (EOC), based at Joint Base Elmendorf‑Richardson, functions as a coordination hub rather than a single location and is staffed during incidents by multiple state agencies and nongovernmental partners, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Civil Air Patrol. "We use that as the acronym," Fisher said, adding at the start of his remarks, "we're tired," describing an extended period of sustained response.

Why it matters: the storm response has strained local and state resources and highlighted gaps in long‑term mitigation funding. Fisher told lawmakers the EOC and local partners handled "upwards of 130 incidents" in calendar 2025, with roughly one state‑declared disaster a month, and said the governor has requested $40,000,000 in supplemental funding for the disaster relief fund plus $24,000,000 in UGF for the next fiscal year.

Fisher emphasized a "local first" response model: local governments, municipalities and tribal governments are expected to lead immediate actions such as sandbagging, opening shelters and limited evacuations; the state provides support when events exceed local capacity. He described preparedness work that has taken place during "blue sky" periods, including three years of resilience workshops with the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) to develop simple community emergency response plans.

On assistance, Fisher outlined two primary programs the governor can authorize in a state disaster declaration: public assistance for infrastructure repair and individual assistance for homeowners. He said FEMA can provide up to $44,800 per homeowner and an additional $44,800 for essential personal property, and that state statute limits the state's individual assistance to roughly half those amounts — "so this year it's $22,400 for home repair and $22,400 for essential personal property," Fisher said. He also described a temporary housing program that can provide rental assistance for displaced residents.

Fisher described the state's reimbursement‑based approach to public assistance, noting heavy documentation requirements driven by FEMA and state audit review. He said when FEMA participates the standard cost share is roughly 75% federal and 25% state, and that the governor typically limits initial disaster relief fund expenditures to $1,000,000 pending legislative approval for larger draws.

Preparedness and forecasting improvements were also discussed. Fisher explained the RiverWatch program — joint flights with the National Weather Service to monitor spring river breakup — and announced that the National Weather Service will rotate a full‑time meteorologist into the state EOC to improve near‑term forecasting for coastal storms and typhoon remnants.

Fisher warned that several federal mitigation programs have been reduced or terminated, including pre‑disaster mitigation and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, and said a federal request for mitigation funding tied to Typhoon Halong had been denied. "We just don't know what federal emergency management is gonna look like in the future," he said, urging legislators to consider long‑term funding strategies for mitigation and resilience.

On impacts from Typhoon Halong, Fisher described widespread damage in several southwestern communities where homes, fuel tanks and other infrastructure were washed away or displaced miles inland. He credited the Alaska National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard with coordinated rescue efforts that Fisher said totaled 51 credited saves, and said some tribal councils are operating out of Anchorage because their communities are not yet safe to return to.

What comes next: both committees agreed to continue the conversation in a follow‑up joint hearing next Tuesday to examine the Halong response and broader fiscal and mitigation strategies. "We're happy to come back and continue the conversation," Fisher told the committees. The hearing adjourned at 09:46 a.m.

(Reporting based on a committee hearing transcript of an update by Brian Fisher, director, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.)