Kongiganak

A powerful, ongoing storm in Western Alaska has flooded communities, destroyed homes and left some residents injured by flying debris. Officials say rescue efforts are underway after floodwaters in multiple communities swept homes off their foundations. The remnants of Typhoon Halong tracked farther east than expected, slamming into the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta coast early on Sunday morning. Officials said Sunday afternoon that the hardest hit communities appeared to be Kipnuk, Kwigillingok and Napakiak.

On January 10, 2025, Kwigillingok experienced significant flooding due to strong tidal action and fierce winds, leading to a flood advisory and a federal disaster declaration for past damages.

This small owl was sighted perching under a building. LEO Network looking for some help on an identification.

The tomcod harvests in the Kongiganak, Cavuuneq and Ilkivik Rivers have been a failure. Also in other areas, based on observations from Chevak and Chefornak. Both the surface and bottom trawl results show a clear decline in tomcod biomass in the North Bering Sea.

“It got very cold the day we got there, it got down to like single digits and ice came out of the mountains and rivers and sloughs everywhere,” said Allyn Long, general manager of Alaska Logistics.

Kwigillingok, a community on the Bering Sea coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is used to some flooding during high tides. But in recent years, that flooding has grown more severe, reaching a new threshold last week.

Abnormally warm winters in 2018 and 2019, in which the ground did not freeze solid enough to support heavy equipment, delayed completion of this project.

A burying beetle was seen for the first time by an observer in Tuntutuliak.

Eagle sighting during winter in Western Alaska.

In villages like Kongiganak, communities have stopped burying their dead because, as the permafrost melts, the oldest part of their cemetery is sinking.

Climate change is thawing the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s permafrost, and it’s doing more than cracking foundations, sinking roads and accelerating erosion.

Unknown Beetle

River erosion damaging pedestrian walkway

2/20/15 Needle fish die-off - Kongiganak, Alaska, USA

11-18-14 Winter river break-up - Kongiganak, Alaska, USA

7-1-14 Bright green bug - Kongignak, Alaska, USA

Local hunter reported that he had caught a spotted seal that he thought was sick.

2-22-12 Pressure ice ridges "Vuneqs" - Kwigillingok, Alaska, USA

Communities such as Tuntutuliak and Napakiak are working to get homes and infrastructure ready for winter after the destruction caused by ex-Typhoon Halong.

Industry representatives assert that trawling near Kuskokwim Bay complies with regulations and does not impact salmon, despite local concerns about habitat damage and fish migration.