U.S. military airlifts hundreds from storm-hit western Alaska

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from western Alaska after Typhoon Halong caused catastrophic flooding that destroyed homes and left multiple people missing, according to state and federal officials.

On Wednesday, an Alaska Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage carrying approximately 300 displaced residents from the region, the Guard said in a statement.

Governor Mike Dunleavy said the first planeload of evacuees had arrived in Anchorage and shared images showing a military transport plane carrying around 100 people.

“We will do everything we can to get people back up on their feet as soon as possible,” Dunleavy said. He added that President Donald Trump “asked me to let Alaskans know he is monitoring the situation and more help is on the way.”

According to the Alaska National Guard, multi-agency search and rescue operations have saved 51 lives across storm-impacted communities, including 34 rescues by the Coast Guard, nine by the Alaska Army National Guard, and eight by the Alaska Air National Guard.

CBS News reported that the storm brought record water levels to two low-lying communities, washing away homes, some with people still inside. Makeshift shelters were established, housing about 1,500 displaced residents in a sparsely populated region accessible only by air or water.

Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told CBS News that one person was rescued and two others remain missing after a home was washed out to sea.

Typhoon Halong, which formed in the northern Philippine Sea earlier this month before crossing the Pacific, struck Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta late last week with hurricane-force winds and surging coastal waters.

State officials said dozens of homes were swept off their foundations in Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, among the hardest-hit communities.