Kipnuk and Kwigillingok face coastal flooding as rain threatens Kwethluk and Kasigluk again

Kwigillingok and Kipnuk are under a coastal flood warning through early Saturday as the remnants of Typhoon Dujuan bring high water to the Kuskokwim Delta coast. The warning also covers Nunivak Island. Inland, rain could send floodwater back into Kwethluk and Kasigluk, which had high water last week.

At Kwigillingok, National Weather Service forecasters in Anchorage expect water Thursday to reach 1.5 to 2.5 feet above the normal high-tide line. Southeast winds of 35 to 45 mph could gust to 60 mph. In a worst case, water could reach 5 feet. If it reaches 2.5 feet, forecasters wrote, "impacts would be comparable to the August 2024 storm."

At Kipnuk, the highest water is expected Friday, when winds turn to the south. Forecasters expect 1 to 2 feet above the normal high-tide line and up to 3 feet in a worst case. The warning directs residents to the state's flood impact maps to see what those levels mean locally.

The August 2024 storm led to separate federal disaster declarations for Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. In October 2025, the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit the same coast. Under the federal disaster declaration that followed, FEMA has approved about $63 million for more than 2,100 households across western Alaska. Kipnuk received another federal disaster declaration of its own in May. Citing NOAA, the state says this storm is not expected to hit as hard as ex-Halong because the two weather systems differ in several important ways.

A flood watch runs through Saturday afternoon for Bethel and nearby villages, including Kwethluk, Kasigluk, Napaskiak, Napakiak and Oscarville. Forecasters expect 1 to 2 inches of rain in the Kilbuck Mountains and along the lower Kuskokwim. They wrote that they have moderate to high confidence that low-lying parts of Kwethluk and Kasigluk will flood.

On Monday, the state emergency operations center reported water about 6 to 8 feet above normal at Kwethluk. Water surrounded several homes and the village's new school, and some roads were affected. In Old Town Kasigluk, flooding affected four homes and put water inside one, according to the weather service. The state tied the Kasigluk flooding to high water on the Johnson and Kuskokwim rivers and noted a possible oil sheen.

The Kuskokwim itself is dropping. Far upriver at Crooked Creek, it was running early Thursday at more than twice its usual flow for late September. That was down slightly from Wednesday.

No state or federal disaster declaration has been issued for this month's flooding. The state emergency operations center is monitoring the storm and says it is in regular contact with communities in its path.

The coastal flood warning and the flood watch both end Saturday. Updates will be posted on the National Weather Service's Alaska alerts.