House panel backs call for federal help relocating storm-destroyed villages

The Alaska House Community and Regional Affairs Committee voted Friday to urge the federal government to support emergency relocation of two Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages heavily damaged by Ex-Typhoon Halong last October.

The resolution, HJR 46, passed without objection after members adopted a committee substitute making a grammatical change and a conceptual amendment grouping Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nicholas Begich together as members of the Alaska delegation in Congress, while keeping Sen. Lisa Murkowski separately identified as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Kipnuk was 90 percent destroyed and Kwigillingok 30 percent destroyed when the storm hit in October 2025, according to testimony from Rachel Gunn and Keenan Miller, staff to Rep. Jimmy, who sponsored the measure.

Residents of both villages have told state officials repeatedly that their communities are no longer safe to live in.

"Their villages are no longer safe to return to," Gunn said. "Director Brian Fisher, on the record many times in committee, has told us in his 30-year career as director of Division of Homeland Security that this was the worst event that he has ever seen in his tenure."

Gunn said tribal leaders from both villages want to move their communities to safer ground, whether to a temporary village or a permanent site.

The resolution calls on the federal government to restore and expand funding for community relocation on an emergency basis. But no federal framework currently exists under the Stafford Act to relocate storm-affected communities. The Stafford Act allows federal agencies to rebuild communities in place after disasters but does not cover relocation.

The resolution also urges the governor to develop a clear community-centered relocation framework with a reliable timeline, dedicated state appropriations, and coordination between agencies.

The relocation will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars and involve complex land ownership issues. Southwest Alaska has what Gunn called a mosaic of land ownership between federal, state, and tribally owned parcels. Village sites have been identified near Chefornik and near Kongiliak, but land swaps may be needed.

The state has not been able to fund a community relocation, according to testimony. The move from Newtok to Mertarvik took more than 25 years and was funded through multiple federal agencies including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, FEMA, the Denali Commission, HUD, the Department of Education, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"The state has not chosen to do something of this endeavor," Gunn said. "The appetite in the state legislature for funding this kind of move or the revenue needed has not been there in the past."