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Trump administration approves disaster declaration for Western Alaska storm

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Alaska Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Steven Gildersleeve, right, an HH-60M Black Hawk critical care flight paramedic, assigned to the 207th Aviation Troop Command, surveys Nightmute, Alaska, with local resident Harvey Dock during Operation Halong Response, Oct. 17, 2025. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moon)

President Donald Trump granted the State of Alaska’s request for a federal disaster declaration on Wednesday, unlocking federal disaster aid to support the ongoing relief and recovery effort in the aftermath of ex-Typhoon Halong throughout Western Alaska.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy formally submitted the request on Oct. 16, and applauded the announcement on social media on Wednesday.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy arrives in Bethel after visiting the storm-damaged villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok on Oct. 17, 2025. (Photo by Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)

“This declaration will be instrumental for ongoing response and recovery efforts. I want to thank President Trump and his administration for the continued support of Alaska and providing help for Alaska during this time of need,” Dunleavy said on Facebook. “Thank you President Trump!”

The declaration authorizes a 100 percent cost share for relief assistance for the next 90 days, through January, according to a statement from the governor’s office. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will coordinate with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on all recovery operations and programs. Representatives with the governor’s office and Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said they did not yet have a copy of the declaration on Wednesday.

Trump said he also authorized an immediate $25 million in relief funding, to cover costs as the state continues to conduct damage assessments.

“I am approving $25 Million Dollars to help Alaska recover from the major typhoon they experienced earlier this month,” Trump wrote on the social media site Truth Social. “It is my Honor to deliver for the Great State of Alaska, which I won BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024 — ALASKA, I WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

The Alaska congressional delegation also thanked the president in a joint statement, noting their letter urging the president to respond and grant the disaster declaration.

“I raised Alaska’s disaster declaration directly with President Trump yesterday at the White House and thank him for quickly approving it to ensure impacted western communities have federal support in the wake of Typhoon Halong,” wrote US Sen. Lisa Senator Murkowski, R-Alaska. “I also appreciate FEMA’s expedited review of this request, which is one of the quickest federal responses in recent years.”

“To all Alaskans impacted,” Murkowski added. “Please know that your congressional delegation, state, and nation stand united and will continue to coordinate recovery efforts as you move forward.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, praised Trump’s move and said he would be visiting storm-impacted villages on Saturday.

“I plan on being in Western Alaska this weekend with top FEMA and DHS officials, and my team and I will continue working closely with the Trump administration and our state, local, and tribal partners to make sure these incredible Alaskans get the help they need to recover and return to their communities,” Sullivan said.

Begich has not announced plans to visit the region. He also praised Trump and the announcement. “Our focus as a delegation remains on ensuring every Alaskan family impacted by this storm receives the resources and support needed throughout the long process of rebuilding their lives,” he said.

Alaska Organized Militia members assigned to Task Force Bethel continue recovery efforts, including retrieving boats the storm washed away and clearing debris at Chefornak, Alaska, Oct. 21, 2025. (Photo by the Alaska National Guard)

The disaster declaration request covered the Northwest Arctic Borough, Lower Yukon Regional Education Attendance Area and the Lower Kukokwim Regional Attendance Area, places hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong.

More than 1,500 residents were displaced by the storm that killed one woman and left two missing in Kwigillingok.

The storm recovery effort is in full swing. Local residents are working on clean up, while regional tribal partners and dozens of state agencies, non-profit and relief organizations provide support to the region, particularly the hardest hit area of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. State and tribal agencies are flying aid into those residents who remain in the coastal villages, like immediate food, water and fuel, while crews continue to work on debris removal, fuel spills, infrastructure assessment and repair to water, power, and sewer systems, roads and boardwalks. Crews are working throughout communities to repair homes where possible, so that local residents can return before winter sets in.

There is no cost estimate for the storm damage at this time, according to Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, because agencies are working to restore services simultaneously.

The state is offering emergency assistance, available through an application on the state’s website, open through November 9.

The program provides financial assistance for storm damage to homes, vehicles, essential personal property, medical, dental or funeral needs directly related to the disaster. Applicants will be eligible for $21,250 in home repairs and another $21,250 for “other needs.”

The president has not yet authorized federal individual assistance — $42,500 for home repairs and $42,500 for other items — but state officials say there will likely be more information from the Trump administration in the coming days.

Lawmakers consider an only-in-Alaska flood insurance program

By: Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, stands in the Senate Finance Committee room on April 24, 2025. Stedman is sponsoring a bill that would create an Alaska flood insurance system that would be an alternate to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s national insurance program. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

As the Trump administration shrinks and even considers eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Alaska Legislature is considering a substitute for one of the agency’s key functions.

A bill introduced by Sen. Bert Stedman, a Republican from the Southeast city of Sitka, would establish an Alaska flood authority and an Alaska flood insurance fund. As far as he knows, it would make Alaska the only state with its own flood insurance, Stedman said.

The veteran state lawmaker said his measure, Senate Bill 11, stems from his dissatisfaction with FEMA and its flood policies, feelings that predated the agency’s possible demise in the Trump era.

The federal agency is, for now, the only source of flood insurance in Alaska, as private carriers that offer policies elsewhere in the country do not operate in the state’s small market, Stedman said.

But Alaskans overall pay much more into the FEMA insurance pool that they receive, he said.

“There’s a cost factor involved here, with Alaska residents subsidizing the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf Coast and East Coast and all that compared to our losses,” Stedman said.

FEMA’s rules about insurance and assistance, which are aimed at flood-prone flat Lower 48 areas, are another source of irritation for Stedman. In Lower 48 areas, FEMA encourages communities to avoid building along coastlines, but in Southeast Alaska, where steep mountains rise from the water’s edge, there are few options for moving inland, he said. An only-in-Alaska flood program could consider local conditions and local governments’ zoning rules rather than FEMA national guidelines, he said.

The Trump administration’s antipathy toward FEMA and its mission has given his bill more urgency, he said.

“It’s reasonably likely that there’ll be significant changes to FEMA coming out of Washington, from restructuring to possibly elimination, so the timing of this bill might be, by happenstance, timely,” he said.

The bill moved through committees this year and is due for more work next year’s session, including an examination of funding options. If a system is established, Stedman said, it could potentially be expanded to another type of disaster that is occurring with increasing frequency in warming Alaska: landslides. There is no specific landslide insurance available in Alaska, Stedman noted.

That may be of interest to Jason Amundson and Eran Hood, University of Alaska Southeast scientists who are focused on glacial outburst flood risks. Though immersed in their project at Mendenhall Glacier, they do not live in the path of the meltwater. Rather, both live in the city’s downtown area, which clings to the lower slopes of steep mountains. There, avalanches and landslides pose the most serious risks.

“There’s hazards everywhere in Juneau,” Hood said.

This story has been supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems, http://solutionsjournalism.org.

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