A site visit to Newtok on September 30, shows severe erosion from impacts of storm (typhoon Merbok). The images show both severe permafrost melt and river erosion.
The aftermath of Typhoon Merbok left fuel tanks floating and home flooded, but locals also saw an opportunity.
A historically powerful storm slammed into Western Alaska Friday night and into Saturday, bringing major flooding and high winds to a huge swath of coastal communities. By Saturday evening, the state said it had received no reports of injuries or deaths related to the storm. But damage had torn across hundreds of miles of Alaska’s coastline impacting communities all along the way. Alaskans described water flooding homes and roads. Wind tore off roofs. Houses floated off their foundations. Boats sank.
Thawing permafrost and erosion is resulting in the loss of infrastructure in Newtok. These images show impacts on utility poles, and the shoreline.
The village is losing ground three times faster than it was 10 years ago, according to studies of Napakiak’s erosion. During high tide, the river is only 64 feet from the high-schoolers’ original classroom and gets closer by the day. On windy days, waves crash against the shore where students used to play, battering it until the land relents and crumbles.
A storm system during the last week of November brought high winds and seas to Newtok and other western Alaska communities.
Moving Newtok residents to the new village of Mertarvik has been planned for decades. This month, several families moved into new homes.
It was 20 years coming, but it finaly began this weekend: the first residents of Mertarvik moved into their new homes.
Observations From Members 