'It is critical to have boots on the ground,' said Alaska National Guard Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, as Guardsmen deploy for debris removal and damage assessment in communities including Hooper Bay, Nome and Bethel.
The Alaska National Guard is activating all Guardsmen in the western region of the state, and is deploying more to the area.
As of Sept. 18, three communities had a boil water advisory in effect: Elim, Unalakleet, and Hooper Bay. Also multiple communities, including Hooper Bay, had lost power at their airports. “And after it developed and started moving north, then it moved over water that was as much as 7 degrees warmer than the long term normal,” he said.. “That is a dramatic difference from normal. For the open ocean, that is really amazing.”
“Now, this is a wake up call. We don’t know what our future, but we can’t be ignorant or ignore it also. So we need to face the facts and reality. These storms are getting worse and worse,” said Ben.