CNN –
The remnants of Typhoon Merbok have been pounding the west coast of Alaska since late Friday, causing flooding powerful enough to uproot buildings and forcing residents to seek shelter.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster for affected communities on Saturday as heavy rains lashed the coast, filling roads with water and debris.
Saturday night, the governor was reporting impacts to roads, oil storage and possibly levees. Authorities were still assessing whether the storm affected water supplies and sewer systems in the state’s western cities, Dunleavy said at a Saturday night briefing.
About 450 residents of coastal communities have sought shelter in schools, according to Bryan Fisher, director of the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
There were no reports of injuries or fatalities related to the storm Saturday night, said Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe of the Alaska National Guard, adding that “there will likely be a military response” with aircraft ready to assist with evacuations if necessary. .
Water continues to rise early Sunday, with levels expected to reach the high tide line of 3-5 feet in Deering, 4-6 feet in Kotzebue and 5-7 feet in Shishmaref and Kivalina, according to the National Meteorological Service.
“These are troubling numbers,” NWS tweeted.
As the remnants of Typhoon Merbok impact the west coast of Alaska, it is important to refer to the size of this storm. Coastal flooding and high wind advisories are currently in effect for the West Coast and Western Arctic Coast as the storm tracks through the Bering Strait. #AKwx pic.twitter.com/p6gsXB69oG
— NWS Fairbanks (@NWSFairbanks) September 17, 2022
Coastal flood warnings remain in place for the west and north coasts of Alaska through Sunday as several locations see extremely high water levels, according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
Water will remain at or near peak levels for up to 24 hours in some locations. Winds are expected to weaken as the storm pushes inland, but water levels along the coast are expected to remain high through Sunday.
The storm appears to be the state’s strongest in more than a decade, according to forecasters.
Creating a “very angry sea” in the city of Nome, according to the National Weather Service in Fairbanks, the storm has caused “waves and storm surges to push into the community.”
Water levels continue to rise and are expected to peak Sunday afternoon before slowly receding, affecting the city’s population of more than 9,800.
The water level in Nome was at 8.47 feet Saturday night, down from a high of 10.52 feet earlier in the day. Levels exceeded those seen during major storms in 2011 and 2004, according to the National Weather Service.
According to Jason Brune, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, a floating building hit a 300-gallon tank in Nome around 6 p.m. local time, causing a spill. The extent of the spill was still unknown Saturday night.
Nome resident Simon Kinneen said he was driving past the Snake River in the Belmont Point area when he saw a houseboat.
“The wind came up high enough to float the house and the wind and the wave blew the house to the northwest,” he told CNN.
In a video taken by Kinneen, an entire house is seen floating in the river before it comes to rest between the river and a nearby bridge.
In Golovin, where some houses floated off their foundations, residents were evacuated Saturday to a local school on higher ground, authorities said.
“Water surrounds the school, homes and structures are flooded, at least a couple of homes are floating off their foundations, some older fuel tanks are tilted,” the National Weather Service in Fairbanks tweeted.
Golovin has a population of about 175, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and is south of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.