Wind cuts power to much of Kivalina, and restoring it may take up to a week

Wind gusts up to about 60 mph damaged a power line in Kivalina on Friday evening, leaving a large part of the Northwest Arctic village without electricity, according to a National Weather Service preliminary storm report based on information from a local official.

Residents were shuttled to the new school, and about 175 people stayed there Friday night, the report said. Kivalina had 444 residents in 2020, according to the Northwest Arctic Borough. It may be up to a week before power returns, the report said, and medical supplies were being readied in case anyone injured had to be flown to Kotzebue.

The state finished an evacuation road in 2021 so residents could leave their island in a storm, and the road also leads to the new school site. The state transportation department said in 2022 that the school, then under construction, would serve as a full-service community emergency shelter.

The village's electric utility is the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, which serves 58 communities from Kivalina to Old Harbor.

Forecasters had warned Tuesday that Kivalina could see gusts to 55 mph with the storm. Gusts up to 40 mph will continue through the weekend, the weather service said Saturday night, and a high surf advisory calls for breaking waves 2 to 4 feet above the normal high tide line until 4 am Tuesday.

A coastal flood watch for Kivalina and Red Dog Dock warns of another round of more significant elevated water around Monday night, with minor coastal flooding possible from late Monday night through late Tuesday night and water levels between 3 and 5 feet possible. Forecasters expect significant erosion over most of the West Coast early next week, according to Saturday's forecast discussion.

Friday's storm was the first of five storms that forecasters expect in western Alaska through next week. The weather service is now watching the remnants of Typhoon Champi, which could reach western Alaska Thursday into Friday.