Days after a low-pressure system plowed through the Bering Strait, western Alaska communities are already preparing for another major storm. 50 mph wind gusts whipped communities across the Bering Strait region. Severe flooding left huge chunks of Kotzebue and Shishmaref underwater.
Friday in Nome, it was both the calm after the storm and before the storm. Water levels had receded and evacuation notices had been lifted. The sun was even shining.
But locals like 43-year Nome resident Mike Owens were already busy prepping for the next storm.
“We're getting all the vehicles fueled up in the event that there's an issue, prolonged issue, and as far as everything outside of the house, we want to make sure that things are picked up or tied down or are prepared for high winds, and just making sure everything's ready to go,” Owens said.
According to the National Weather Service, remnants of ex-typhoon Halong are on a collision course with the Bering Sea. A ridge of high pressure in the Gulf of Alaska and a low pressure system near Russia are expected to suck the ex-typhoon north and through the Bering Strait. Forecasts suggest it will accelerate and strengthen as it reaches the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta midday Sunday.
Rick Thoman is a climatologist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness. He’s been watching the track of the storm all week.
“Small shifts in where the storm tracks will make a big difference to what happens in any specific community. One thing that the weather models are pretty much all in agreement on, this is going to be a relatively fast moving storm going from roughly St Lawrence Island to northeast of Kivalina in just 12 hours,” Thoman said.
Thoman said how fast the storm was moving, in some ways, was good. High winds and coastal flooding should come and go relatively quickly, but Thoman said the storm still poses risks, particularly with sustained winds above 50 miles per hour.
“That, by itself, is a problem. And then we have the shove of water, that water being pushed by those strong winds over the ocean, depending on the exact track that the biggest slug of water could move to Nome could wind up getting turned into eastern Norton Sound,” Thoman said.
Back on Front Street near the seawall, new Golden China owner Andy Kang was preparing for his first big storm.
“A lot of people told me, ‘you have to, you know, cover the whole windows and the front doors, even the my back door, have to be secure to make sure, you know, no water can get in there’,” Kang said.
With some help from the building’s maintenance person, Kang planned to place sand bags at the entrances and cover windows with plywood.
At Nome’s Public Safety Building north of town, local and federal officials met Friday afternoon to debrief on Wednesday's storm and prepare for the weekend.
Following a briefing from the weather service, Nome City Manager Lee Smith tried to put the room at ease. In his former role as county manager in Georgia, he said hurricanes were a common sight.
“The first thing I want to say is, first just breathe. I've had 170 mile an hour winds, and I know what it's like, it is scary,” Smith said. “Make reasonable decisions. Knee jerk doesn't work.”
Kawerak Emergency Preparedness Specialist, Kevin Knowlton, encouraged residents to take photos their property, including camps, for insurance purposes.
"It also includes subsistence gear and camps, because the state and federal government have identified those as necessities for maintaining life out here in western Alaska," Knowlton said.
Officials are encouraging residents to gather emergency supplies like food, water and spare clothing. Loose property like boats, fish racks, or building supplies should also be secured.
