Living near and around water can be amazing, something that folks in the Pacific Northwest know all too well. We have lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, the Salish Sea, and the Pacific Ocean – all of which provide us with drinking water, swimming holes, and so much more. But living with all these waterways also comes with the risk of flooding. The 2021 atmospheric river in western Washington, for example, led to catastrophic flooding in Whatcom and Skagit counties. The most recent catastrophic flooding in the region happened in Western Alaska in early October of 2025.
Fueled by climate change and the warming Pacific Ocean, Typhoon Halong hit Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwin Delta region in early October 2025 with such a force that one village lost 90% of its homes. Photos and videos from that area show entire houses being swept off their foundations and floating into the sea. Even as an ex-typhoon by the time it hit Alaska, the storm did massive amounts of damage. Native and coastal villages, like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, were the hardest hit by the storm and compounding factors made evacuation extremely difficult. The villages in this area are very remote, located on very flat land at sea level, and are surrounded by the state’s two longest rivers that empty into the Bering Sea. Many villages are only accessible by plane or boat, making evacuation much more logistically difficult than in other areas in North America. Traditional resources are much more scarce as well and many plane runways are short and not built for cargo planes, making rebuilding the villages another major hurdle.
Makeshift shelters were established for at least 1,500 people, with many in the hardest hit areas being relocated to Anchorage and nearby Bethel. The folks who have lost their homes and communities are now, at least for the time being, climate refugees. Returning home now that the storm is done isn’t simple and one Kipnuk resident told journalists that many “have claimed they’re not returning. They don’t want to do this again. … Every fall, we have a flood. It might not be as extreme as this one was, but as the years have set in, we’re seeing it. Climate warming is increasing the storms, and they’re just getting worse and worse.”
Those hardest hit by climate change are often the ones with the fewest resources to survive and rebuild after natural disasters. Native and indigenous people in North America have faced violent colonization for centuries, with tribes forced into assimilation, permanent settlements, and boarding schools. And for some Alaskan villages, they’ve voted for relocation but there aren’t any resources to help with that and doing so would also break up tight knit communities still surviving with traditional methods. It doesn’t help that earlier this year, the Trump administration cut a $20 million EPA grant to Kipnuk, one of the hardest hit villages. That grant would’ve gone to helping stabilize the riverbank that Kipnuk is on. The reasoning for the cut? According to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, he was eliminating “wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants” and the project was “no longer consistent” with EPA priorities.
And it’s not just Alaska that’s suffering from flooding and climate crises. The Philippines has recently been hit by multiple typhoons and different parts of the country are dealing with massive and catastrophic floods. Generational poverty, corruption, colonization, and climate change all played a role in the devastation. These storms happened weeks ago but the truth is that recovery is going to take years and more disasters and storms are going to happen. In the short term, we need to help those affected by the recent storms like Typhoon Halong. The Alaska Community Foundation has the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund. The Alaska Heritage Center also has a LinkTree with ways to help with recovery (and other good resources!). Similarly, the Daily Hive recently shared Filipino Canadian organizations working to help those affected.
In the long term, there needs to be more sustainable ways to combat the climate crisis, support climate refugees, and combat political corruption. On an individual level, little things can add up and make a difference – things like shopping local whenever possible, mending clothing and repairing items instead of buying new things, community building, and mutual aid. One person cannot effectively dismantle corrupt systems but together, we can.
Featured photo: Tuntutuliak, in the Bethel Census Area of western Alaska, on Monday. Kathleen Simon
