Alaska Reels from Historic Storm that Caused Widespread Flooding

Western Alaska was reeling Monday from the most intense storm ever recorded in the Bering Sea during the month of September brought hurricane force winds and record high storm surge flooding along the coastline.

Officials reported Norton Sound communities were still being affected by power outages, flooding and damages to homes, public buildings and roads, while water and sewage were also affected as the typhoon remnants and headed into the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast Sunday evening.

Because the storm hit in September, there was no nearshore ice to protect communities in the low-lying western coast from the full wrath of high waves and storm surge flooding.

Social media images showed entire communities inundated, and in one case, a house stuck under a bridge after it floated downriver in Nome, the endpoint of the Iditarod sled dog race.