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In the Wake of the Storm: Alaska Native Communities Bearing the Brunt
- centralfloridaindi
- Oct 19
- 2 min read
When the remnants of Typhoon Halong barreled into southwest Alaska in mid‑October 2025, few in the Lower 48 could fully imagine what was unfolding for remote Indigenous villages along the Yukon‑Kuskokwim Delta. Hurricane‑force winds, massive storm surge, and floodwaters tore through communities built on permafrost, eroding foundations, overturning boats, and sweeping away homes.
In Kipnuk, as many as 90 percent of homes were destroyed. In Kwigillingok, entire houses floated off their foundations. At least one woman died in the disaster, and two others remain missing. Thousands have been evacuated — some permanently displaced — and many will not return home before the arrival of winter.
More than a Storm: A Legacy of Invisibility
Indigenous communities are often not ignored in disaster planning in the United States. Recovery, response and planning is an afterthought. There are some logistical barriers but none that cannot be surpassed.
Geographic isolation and lack of infrastructure make tribes harder to reach in emergencies. Many Alaskan villages are accessible only by air or water, with no roads, which slows relief efforts.
Climate change and environmental precarity have placed many Indigenous villages under severe stress for years: thawing permafrost, erosion, sea-level rise, and melting ice all threaten the very land on which these communities live.
Disaster funding, federal aid, and media attention often focus on urban or more accessible populations, sidestepping remote Native communities. This perpetuates underinvestment in infrastructure, translation services, culturally grounded recovery, and autonomous resilience.
These disasters and lack of trust in local and federal government increase trauma and slows healing for native communities.
Disaster relief should be accessible to all in the United States, but often our most vulnerable communities who have been historically impacted by our bloody history and colonialism suffer most.
A Moment of Reckoning — But a Chance to Act
In response to the storm, local leaders and Indigenous organizations have mobilized rapidly. Showing again the power of community and local organization. The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, housed at the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF), was created to channel donations to the communities themselves. ACF is working with tribal entities (including the Association of Village Council Presidents, Alaska Federation of Natives, regional health organizations, and local councils) to ensure funds go where they’re most needed.
In other words: this is Indigenous‑led relief. That’s crucial. It means recovery is more likely to reflect local priorities, cultural needs, and sustainable rebuilding.
What You Can Do — Right Now
We must do more than watch. Here’s how you can help:
Donate
Contribute to the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund via the Alaska Community Foundation: alaskacf.org/WesternAlaska
Lift Native voices
Share stories, posts, interviews, and firsthand Indigenous accounts of the damage and response.
Support Indigenous media, tribal governments, and nonprofits like Native Peoples Action, which work to elevate community priorities and policy change. Native Peoples Action
Advocate for disaster policies that center tribal sovereignty, local decision-making, culturally grounded support, and equitable resource allocation.
Advocate for policy change
Urge your federal and state representatives to increase funding for climate resilience, infrastructure, and disaster response in Indigenous communities.
Demand that disaster planning incorporate Indigenous knowledge, language access, and community-led strategies.
Stay engaged
Monitor updates from Indigenous-led organizations.
Volunteer, if you're in a position to help, with translation, logistics, or awareness campaigns
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