Power returns to Kivalina as about 25 residents stay at school shelter

Kivalina has its power back, and about 25 residents are still staying at the village school, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said Tuesday.

That is down from about 175 people who sheltered there late last week, when Alaska News reported Oct. 25 that wind had cut power to much of the village. The division's daily situation report for Oct. 27 says the 25 sheltered at the school overnight Monday. Shelter supplies and an on-site medical provider were available, no more shelter help was requested, and the shelter will stay open a few more days. The report does not say exactly when power came back.

A National Weather Service storm report says gusts up to around 60 mph hit a power line about 6 pm Oct. 23 and left a large part of the village without power. Residents were shuttled to the new school, and about 175 stayed there Friday night. The report said power could take up to a week to return and that medical supplies were being readied in case injured residents needed to be flown to Kotzebue.

The state's Oct. 26 report gives a different cause and date: a construction tower collapse damaged power lines, and about 175 people sheltered at the school overnight Oct. 24. That report says officials were considering a medical evacuation, weather permitting, and that a local disaster had been declared, with the Northwest Arctic Borough engaged. Neither report says whether anyone was flown out.

The state's emergency operations center will stay at Enhanced Watch, the second of four alert levels, through the week. The state says the string of storms on the West Coast leaves little time for water levels to recede.

The third storm, which ran from Monday to Tuesday afternoon, could raise water again in communities around Kotzebue Sound, the state said. A fourth is expected to bring heavy rain and snow through Thursday morning. A fifth, the remnants of Typhoon Champi, is forecast to move through from Wednesday to Friday morning and may bring more coastal impacts. The state says that forecast is still being refined and the storm is not expected to be comparable to Merbok or Halong.

A weather service high surf advisory for Kivalina and Red Dog Dock, updated at 2:17 pm Tuesday and in effect until 4 am Wednesday, forecast breaking waves 2 to 4 feet above the normal high tide line, peaking Tuesday afternoon. It also forecast gusts of 45 to 55 mph and possible localized beach erosion. Water levels are expected to lower slowly through the end of the week.