Alaska News Nightly: Monday, October 13, 2025

Summary

Alaska News Nightly: Monday, October 13, 2025 – Episode Summary

Main Theme

This episode of Alaska News Nightly centers on the aftermath of Typhoon Ha Long as it slams western Alaska, resulting in ongoing search and rescue operations, widespread devastation in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages, and community recovery efforts. Other key stories include updates to the state's cold case database, new efforts to expand housing, a tuberculosis outbreak in Bristol Bay, dialogue around the massive Alaska LNG project, coverage of the Elders and Youth Conference, and the unique experience of elders during recent storm evacuations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Typhoon Ha Long’s Devastating Impact on Western Alaska

• Storm Aftermath (00:19–04:43): Following Typhoon Ha Long’s landfall, at least three people are missing and 51 have been rescued, with helicopters, planes, drones, and boats involved in the search.
  • Coast Guard Commander Christopher Culpepper likened the devastation to Hurricane Katrina, highlighting entire houses swept from foundations and survivors clinging to debris in the darkness.
    • "Several of these villages have been completely devastated, absolutely flooded, several feet deep." — Brian Butcher, [00:19]
  • Priority on emergency response and locating the missing, with the Alaska National Guard mobilizing its largest off-road system response in 45 years.
    • "This may end up being the largest off the road system response for the national guard in about 45 years." — Brian Butcher, [03:04]
  • Record flooding and damage assessment underway, including environmental concerns about fuel spills, though rescue and survival remain the top focus.
    • "We gotta take care of people quickly. We have to take care of their needs quickly. We have to take care of water, food, sanitation, electricity." — Brian Butcher, [04:04]
  • Governor Mike Dunleavy promised ongoing support and declared a disaster for the region.
    • "We know you need help. We're going to continue to get the help to you." — Brian Butcher, [04:22]

2. Alaska’s Cold Case Website Update

• Community Concerns Over Dropped Cases (04:53–05:59):
  • Alaska State Troopers updated their cold case site, initially removing cases with "no viable leads."
  • Indigenous justice advocates argued every case matters:
    • "We have the right to know. This is our community." — Rebecca Johnson, [05:19]
  • Following backlash, dropped cases were reinstated, with the current list standing at 115 names.
    • "We really do appreciate the feedback we received from Alaskans about this." — Donna Erickson, [05:46]
  • Advocates desire more transparency, including personal stories and photos; troopers see the site as "a work in progress."

3. Housing Development: A Statewide Strategy

• AHFC’s Land Purchases (06:54–08:31):
  • Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) buys 600+ acres to stimulate residential development, addressing the state’s critical lack of housing.
  • Projects will be tailored to Alaska’s diverse communities through collaborations with local, tribal, and private sectors.
    • "We want it to be unique to each community because there is such a difference between what each community in Alaska needs." — Brian Butcher, [07:32]
  • Land acquisition partly funded by COVID relief money; seen as a pilot for future initiatives.

4. Tuberculosis Outbreak in Bristol Bay

• Rising Cases and Community Response (08:59–12:19):
  • Region sees highest TB numbers in recent years; outbreak classified by state health officials.
  • TB described as insidious and stigmatized, leading to hesitation in seeking tests.
    • "TB can hide. It's very insidious... It loves those areas of high oxygen." — Rebecca Johnson, [10:21]
  • Public health is ramping up testing, contact tracing, and community education.
    • "I think because we're doing more testing now and because we're doing more investigations... that's what we want. We want to find it and treat it." — Rhonda McBride, [11:29]
  • Emphasis: TB is treatable, and anyone exposed is urged to test.

5. Community Dialogue on the Alaska LNG Project

• Town Hall in Nikiski (12:42–18:58):
  • More than 100 residents attend despite power outages; questions for project developers center on costs, local impacts, and environmental risks.
    • "We know that a project of this magnitude really can't go forward without local buy in." — Adam Prestage, Glenfarn Project President, [13:23]
  • Longtime residents skeptical about economic promises and feasible natural gas pricing.
    • "To bring this natural gas... and sell it for cheaper than the natural gas that's within the Cook Inlet Basin here... at a cheaper cost. I don't see it." — Robin Bogard, resident, [15:13]
  • Environmental advocates warn the pipeline could triple Alaska's annual carbon emissions.
    • "I don't think they should [develop]." — Ben Becker, Cook Inlet Keeper, [17:10]
  • Glenfarn asserts compliance with rigorous environmental standards and commitment to winning over skepticism.
    • "All of the pieces of the puzzle are lined up for this project... skepticism, you know, needs to be replaced as we make progress." — Adam Prestage, [18:18]

6. Elders and Youth Conference: Cultural Connection

• Ceremony and Reflections (19:11–21:31):
  • Conference launches with multigenerational dancing, drumming, and native language introductions.
  • Elders speak on the power of tradition and the ties that bind generations.
    • "You hear the drumming and the singing, and then they see their parents enjoying themselves and they take it in, they internalize it. Then it grows into your soul, so to speak." — Greg (elders’ son), [20:13]
  • Senator Lisa Murkowski highlights the value of tradition and optimism in these gatherings.

7. Elders’ Storm Evacuation: Finding Resilience

• Unique Experience in Unalakleet (21:55–25:27):
  • As Typhoon Ha Long approached, about 100 Shaktulik residents evacuated to Unalakleet, affording elders a rare chance for togetherness and reminiscing.
  • Donna Erickson describes communal meals, storytelling, and music—turning adversity into community strength.
    • "We ended up having a couple hours of singing and playing guitars, and it turned out to be a very beautiful time for everybody." — Donna Erickson, [24:45]
  • The region was largely spared heavy damage, and there was gratitude and connection among villages.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the typhoon's devastation:
  • "This took homes off of foundations. This took people into peril where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the COVID of darkness at nighttime.” — Brian Butcher, [01:21]
• On government responsibility after disasters:
  • "We have to take care of people quickly. We have to take care of their needs quickly. We have to take care of water, food, sanitation, electricity." — Brian Butcher, [04:04]
• About connecting generations:
  • "...in Native culture, the ties between elders and youth are an ancient bond that probably begins with the beat of the drum.” — Rhonda McBride, paraphrasing, [19:34–20:13]
• On overcoming skepticism about the LNG project:
  • "Skepticism needs to be replaced as we make progress." — Adam Prestage, [18:18]
• On community during evacuation:
  • "We ended up having a couple hours of singing and playing guitars, and it turned out to be a very beautiful time for everybody." — Donna Erickson, [24:45]
• On the need for transparency in cold cases:
  • "We have the right to know. This is our community." — Rebecca Johnson, [05:19]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Topic | Start–End | |---------------------------------------------|----------------| | Typhoon Ha Long Aftermath | 00:19–04:43 | | Cold Case Website Update | 04:53–05:59 | | AHFC Housing Land Purchases | 06:54–08:31 | | TB Outbreak in Bristol Bay | 08:59–12:19 | | Alaska LNG Project Town Hall | 12:42–18:58 | | Elders and Youth Conference | 19:11–21:31 | | Elders’ Storm Evacuation Story | 21:55–25:27 |

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Conclusion

This episode highlighted Alaska’s enduring challenges—natural disasters, public health, affordable housing, and the balance between resource development and environmental stewardship—while also celebrating the tenacity, wisdom, and cultural continuity of Alaskan communities. From immediate disaster relief to long-term questions of justice, infrastructure, and tradition, Alaska News Nightly captured the heartbeat of the state and its people.

Transcript

[Tracy Cooper]

Support for Alaska Public Media On Demand comes from Siri, an Alaska Native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents, 45 states and two US territories.

[Brian Butcher]

Several of these villages have been completely devastated, absolutely flooded, several feet deep.

[Casey Grove]

Search and rescue efforts continue after the remnants of Typhoon Ha long battered western Alaska this week. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Monday, October 13th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, a state owned corporation is buying land to help promote housing development.

[Brian Butcher]

The most important thing is people will have houses and potentially the economies are going to benefit in those communities.

[Casey Grove]

Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News nightly. At least three people are still missing and 51 have been rescued following a record breaking storm that slammed into the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Sunday. As Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports, officials say search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

[Christopher Culpepper]

Coast Guard commander for Western Alaska Christopher Culpepper compares the devastation in southwest Alaska villages to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

[Brian Butcher]

Several of these villages have been completely devastated, absolutely flooded, several feet deep. And so this took homes off of foundations. This took people into peril where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the COVID of darkness at nighttime.

[Christopher Culpepper]

Culpepper spoke alongside numerous officials at a news conference on Monday, a day after the remnants of Typhoon Ha Long barreled into remote coastal communities in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. The storm hit the villages of Kipnok and Gwigilinguk especially hard. The storm brought winds of over 100 mph and record floodw waters. Helicopters, planes, drones, ships and pararescuers from the Coast Guard, National Guard and other agencies worked through the night and are still searching for three people missing from Wigilingoc. Hundreds of survivors are in community shelters. Mark Roberts, head of the state Emergency Operations center, says locating every missing person is a top priority. He says officials continue to take stock of the extensive damage. The storm destroyed dozens of homes. Some of them floated off their foundations with families still inside. Several used cell phones to call for help.

[Brian Butcher]

It's been very scary, very, very scary.

[Casey Grove]

For folks, let me tell you.

[Brian Butcher]

The folks that were in houses that.

[Christopher Culpepper]

Were floating and didn't know where they.

[Brian Butcher]

Were was one of the most tragic things our folks in the state of the OC has ever faced.

[Christopher Culpepper]

The storm cracked the Runway at the airport in Kipnock, preventing planes from landing. It snapped utility poles in half, leading to power outages. Alaska National Guard head Torrance Sachs says he's activated every member of the state's National Guard and Alaska State defense force living in western Alaska. He says that's about 60 to 80 people and more are set to join.

[Brian Butcher]

This may end up being the largest off the road system response for the national guard in about 45 years.

[Christopher Culpepper]

Meteorologist David Kramer with the National Weather Service says in Kipnock, the water reached 6.6ft above the normal highest tide mark.

[Brian Butcher]

Previous record was 4.7ft and that was back in 2000. So almost 2ft higher than what we have seen before. For Kipnock, quite a big difference.

[Christopher Culpepper]

The search at Quigalongoc also broke a record high set last year. In addition to its search and rescue mission, the Coast Guard is also focused on a potential marine disaster. By midday, the only pollution reported was a light sheen in the flood waters. But the damaged area includes dozens of bulk fuel tanks and other fuel storage facilities. Here's Culpepper with the Coast Guard.

[Brian Butcher]

These facilities are those that which the communities rely upon for home heating oil, subsistence through winter, for travel, for fuel, for vehicles, boats, aircraft and their critical assets.

[Christopher Culpepper]

But for now, Governor Mike Dunleavy says spilled oil is a lower priority than search and rescue and recovery.

[Brian Butcher]

We gotta take care of people quickly. We have to take care of their needs quickly. We have to take care of water, food, sanitation, electricity.

[Christopher Culpepper]

State officials say dozens of nonprofit organizations, businesses and faith based groups are also coordinating recovery efforts with the state. Dunleavy has declared a disaster for the region, easing access to additional resources.

[Brian Butcher]

We know you need help. We're going to continue to get the help to you. We're going to do everything we can to get everything up and running as quickly as possible. And we will continue to help, not just today, tomorrow, but weeks and months on and until we get things back to what used to be at least considered semi normal.

[Christopher Culpepper]

Dunleavy and members of Alaska's congressional delegation say they plan to visit the region as soon as later this week with additional reporting from Liz Ruskin. Reporting in Juneau, I'm Eric Stone.

[Casey Grove]

The Alaska state troopers updated their cold case website last month after six years without any updates. But when they posted the new list of unsolved murders, they dropped cases they said had no viable leads. Victim advocates protested that decision, and troopers say that led them to restore the names of those eliminated. Charlene Apoc, director of data for Indigenous justice, says it's important for the public to know about all the cases, whether they're viable or not.

[Rebecca Johnson]

We have the right to know.

[Brian Butcher]

This is our community.

[Rebecca Johnson]

These are services provided by the government.

[Brian Butcher]

We have the right to know.

[Casey Grove]

Other advocates say removing the names was disrespectful and sent a message to killers that their crimes would be forgotten. Trooper spokesman Austin McDaniel says that was not the intent and the agency has made changes based on the feedback. Last week, they updated the list again. It now has 115 names compared to the 96 posted last month.

[Brian Butcher]

We really do appreciate the feedback we.

[Donna Erickson]

Received from Alaskans about this.

[Brian Butcher]

Reach out directly to us. Let us know that, hey, we see your intentions here are good, but we have some recommendations for making it even better.

[Casey Grove]

Advocates say the new update only provides the names of the victims, the date and location of the crimes and a case number. They were hoping troopers would include profiles of the victims, more about the circumstances surrounding the crimes and photos. McDaniel says troopers will look at how to include that information. He says it might not be possible for some of the oldest cases that go back more than 50 or 60 years. But he says he hopes the public will look at the Cold Case website as a work in progress and continue to make suggestions. An organization dedicated to housing Alaskans has purchased more than 600 acres of land across the state for future residential projects. Daniel Delfino with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation says housing is tight and the idea is to jumpstart development.

[Tracy Cooper]

You can think about it as money that the private sector or another person.

[Brian Butcher]

Doesn'T have to come up with. That's what's making these things possible.

[Casey Grove]

That's what we're bringing to the table.

[Tracy Cooper]

That's going to make housing go up in communities that probably wouldn't otherwise see.

[Brian Butcher]

It, so we don't need to recover that.

[Casey Grove]

Ahfc CEO Brian Butcher says the next step is to work with local governments and other organizations to figure out the best way to develop the land. He says those projects could take many different forms, including partnerships with regional housing authorities and local and tribal governments, as well as the private sector. They could be funded through various mechanisms like municipal bonds, tax credits, loans, grants and anticipated rent.

[Brian Butcher]

We want it to be unique to each community because there is such a difference between what each community in Alaska needs that we wanted to make sure that we would be able to have the flexibility to be able to tailor it to whatever each individual community may need.

[Casey Grove]

But because AHFC does not know how the housing will be developed, Butcher says he doesn't know when the housing projects might be completed. HFC paid the University of Alaska More than $12 million for the land. Funding came in part from COVID relief money and needed to be used up by Sept. 30. A smaller portion came from a $4 million appropriation in the state's 2024 capital budget. HFC was tasked with working with four state agencies to make state land available for housing development. Butcher says it's a test case, one he hopes AHFC can use again.

[Brian Butcher]

The most important thing is people will have houses and potentially the economies are going to benefit in those communities. If we have an opportunity to then do this around 2, we would jump at the opportunity.

[Casey Grove]

There is still $2.5 million available from the state appropriation. Butcher says AHFC is exploring options with the state agencies to use the rest of the money. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, the annual Elders and Youth Conference kicks off with dancing and drums.

[Brian Butcher]

And then they see their parents enjoying themselves and they take it in. They internalize it. Then it grows into your soul, so to speak.

[Casey Grove]

That's ahead. Stay with us. Health officials in Bristol Bay say the region is in the middle of a tuberculosis outbreak, with the most cases they've seen in years. The state classified it as an outbreak earlier this year, and local entities are working to track and treat infections. KDLG's Margaret Sutherland reports.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Rebecca Johnson is the infectious diseases division manager for the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation. Johnson says the outbreak was first detected in January. She says the tribal health organization is not sharing case counts or case locations to protect patient confidentiality in small communities.

[Rebecca Johnson]

We are seeing an outbreak in the region at this time. The state has classified this as a TB outbreak. That is a significant higher number than we have ever seen in recent years in region.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Tuberculosis, or tb, is a bacterial infection of the lungs and causes symptoms like cough, fever and night sweats. There are two categories for TB latent when TB is not contagious and asymptomatic and active, which can spread. Johnson says TB can remain latent without the patient ever knowing they have it. But latent forms of TB have up to a 10% chance of becoming active and contagious if left untreated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Rebecca Johnson]

TB can hide. It's very insidious. It can hide in your body. It loves those areas of high oxygen, like in the upper regions of your lungs, your brain, your spinal cord.

[Margaret Sutherland]

The infection is transmitted through the air, but, Johnson says, not as easily as COVID 19, or the flu. It takes prolonged exposure for hours or days. Alaska has the highest rate of TB in the U.S. according to the state Department of Health. It's been an ongoing health problem in the state for generations and particularly devastating for Alaska Native communities. In the 20th century, Alaska had some of the highest rates of TB ever seen in the world and until 1950 was the state's leading cause of death, according to a state report. Lisa Susanaga is the public health nurse in Dillingham. She says western Alaska has the highest rates of TB in the state, and right now Bristol Bay has the highest number of active cases in western Alaska. Zusinaga says part of the uptick in the region may be because health professionals are looking more closely.

[Rhonda McBride]

I think because we're doing more testing now and because we're doing more investigations.

[Casey Grove]

And doing contact tracing, we're finding more and more and that's what we want. We want to find it and treat it.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Both active and latent TB are treatable with antibiotics in. The Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation and Public Health in Dillingham have been collaborating to test and treat communities across the region since the outbreak was detected in January. But Johnson says there are hurdles to finding the infection. She says stigma is a barrier to people getting tested around this region.

[Rebecca Johnson]

There's. I believe there's a stigma because TB has always been here. People remember their grandparents being shipped off to sanitariums. That's not at all the case anymore. It's a treatable disease now. Whether you have latent or active tb.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Anyone can get tested for tb. The Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation is recommending that anyone who has symptoms or suspects they have been exposed to active TB be tested. Reporting from KDLG in Dillingham, I'm Margaret Sutherland.

[Casey Grove]

Blustery winds and a resulting power outage did not stop well over 100 people from packing into Nikiski's Community Recreation center last week. That's where Alaska LNG project developers fielded questions from residents and presented their strategy for getting natural gas out of the North Slope. KDLL's Ashlyn O' Hara attended the event and has this story.

[Rebecca Johnson]

The banquet hall at the Nikiski Rec center is so packed with people you can barely see the informational poster boards along the walls. The power is out, so the room is only partially lit thanks to generators. A sea of faces surrounds a small group wearing Glenfarn branded jackets. Adam Prestage leads the discussion.

[Brian Butcher]

We know that a project of this magnitude really can't go forward without local buy in.

[Rebecca Johnson]

That's Prestage. He's the project president under Glenbarn Group, which assumed majority ownership from the state earlier this year.

[Brian Butcher]

And so, you know, this tonight was just a testament of what we saw when we came into the project, which is, yeah, this is a supportive community that's going to help us get this project built, if it's built.

[Rebecca Johnson]

The $44 billion Alaska LNG project will move natural gas from Alaska's north slope through an 8 mile pipeline to Nikiskee to be liquefied and shipped overseas. The proposed project terminus is a five minute drive from the rec center. Although Glenfarn is new on the scene, the project is far from a new idea. It's been floated for decades, as many in the oil and gas hub of Nikiski can tell you. Robin Bogard has lived in Alaska longer than it's been a state. He's a former petroleum worker who raised five kids with his wife in Nikiski. He's retired now.

[Brian Butcher]

I've supported a gas line for, I'd say since the late 70s when the oil pipeline got finished.

[Rebecca Johnson]

But like others who've seen the project try and fail to cross the finish line over the years, he has doubts about whether this time is the charm.

[Brian Butcher]

It's a good selling point to come to the local community and say, hey, we're going to bring a project and it's going to bring your utilities down. That sounds good, but. But how do you make that happen? And I get it, it's early in the project. But just looking at it from a high level, I don't see how that is a realistic achievable target.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Bogard says he attended the town hall with some questions he wants answered. For example, he owns property near the project footprint and wants to know how he'll be impacted. But he also wants to know how Glen Farn's iteration of the project is going to pencil out.

[Brian Butcher]

So to bring this natural gas from subsurface to surface, put it into a pipeline, shove it 760 miles and sell it for cheaper than the natural gas that's within the Cook Inlet Basin here. My skepticism is that cost that distance to bring the same product at a cheaper cost, it can be done. It can be brought here, but at a cheaper cost. I don't see it.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Bogard says Glenfarn meeting with Nikiskee residents feels significant and that the company shouldn't underestimate the impact of public opinion on the project's success or failure. Standing in the crowd with Bogard is Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank. Kenai has long supported industrial operations in Nikiski. There are denser housing opportunities, grocery stores and more schools. Eubank says Glenfern's team wasn't able to meet with Kenai employees this trip. He wants the company to know that Kenai has a lot to offer them, from city water to professional development space and their municipal airport.

[Brian Butcher]

But the city of Kenai has a lot of resources that in the past the project planned to use and that we think we can bring to the table. But I think what we need is some adequate time to do some planning and make sure it's done the right way.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Kenai Mayor Elect Henry Nachstedt agrees.

[Brian Butcher]

It certainly is hard to develop a program if you don't know what the program is that they need. But one of the things that we are doing that is happening at about the right time here is the Runway at the airport is going to be completely rebuilt next summer. It'll be ready for them for whatever is coming.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Ben Becker also attended the town hall. He's the energy policy analyst for Cook Inlet Keeper. That's the Homer based nonprofit organization that advocates for the protection of Cook Inlet's watershed. They're concerned about the project's environmental impacts. With Betger estimating the project could roughly triple Alaska's annual carbon emissions over its lifetime.

[Brian Butcher]

I mean, I'm not going to ask the Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation not to develop the Alaska Gas Line, like kind of futile, but I don't think they should.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Betger says there's also harm in the way the pipeline is, quote, warping the way state leaders make decisions about energy, like putting off renewable projects while the pipeline is still a possibility. He says Alaskans cannot control the geopolitics driving the pipeline's success or failure. But he says they do have influence over what local utilities do.

[Brian Butcher]

In the meantime, it's much harder to write those checks and be confident that you're making the right decision when.

[Christopher Culpepper]

You'Re.

[Brian Butcher]

Seeing in your other eye a potential future where there's north gas pipelines.

[Rebecca Johnson]

In response to environmental concerns. Glenfarn's prestige points to the more than 5,000 permits the project has already acquired as proof that Glenfarn is adhering to high environmental standards. And he doesn't fault people for being skeptical about the project's success, but he expects the skepticism to fall away as the project advances.

[Brian Butcher]

We think that all of the pieces of the puzzle are lined up for this project to go forward in a way that has never existed over the past few years, decades. And what I'll say is that skepticism, you know, needs to be replaced as we make progress.

[Rebecca Johnson]

Wednesday's town hall came the day after the company shared project specifics with state lawmakers. And on Thursday's agenda was another presentation to state business leaders at the Alaska Chamber Business Summit in Girdwood, but Prestage says there's something special about Nagiski.

[Brian Butcher]

It's a really cool thing to be here, particularly just down the road from Kenai lng, which was, you know, the cradle of the of the global LNG industry. So pretty amazing to be back here developing this project right now.

[Rebecca Johnson]

More information and project updates are being shared to the project's website at alaska-lng.com reporting in Nikiskee, I'm Ashlyn O'. Hara.

[Casey Grove]

There's nothing like the Elders and Youth Conference anywhere. It's a chance for young people to talk with their elders about serious issues, but also to learn how to speak their native language, sew skins, cut salmon and share stories. As the gathering opened yesterday, there was dancing, drumming and a sense of continuity. KNBA's Ronna McBride was there.

[Rhonda McBride]

The King of Mute group was the first to take the stage. Although their members live in Anchorage, their roots are in Wales, in a Nupiac community on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula. There was a range of elders and youth in the group, the youngest a baby whose mother set him on the stage to watch the dancers. The eldest was Sophie Nastine, an 87 year old who was carefully led to the center of the dance floor. Her son Greg says, in Native culture, the ties between elders and youth are an ancient bond that probably begins with the beat of the drum.

[Brian Butcher]

It might remind them of being in the womb. You hear the drumming and the singing, and then they see their parents enjoying themselves and they take it in, they internalize it. Then it grows into your soul, so to speak. I can't tell you how good it felt to be sitting in the audience.

[Casey Grove]

And to feel the drum in your.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Chest, literally going into your heart.

[Rhonda McBride]

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski says that she too, connects with the sound of the drum on the stage. She was there to greet the delegates and their families, but says she loves to sit in the crowd to watch how the dancers showcase their elders and how the younger children are positioned to watch so they can learn. She says the performances seem to reflect what the Elders and Youth Conference is all about.

[Brian Butcher]

It is the richness of those who.

[Rhonda McBride]

Have led the way combined with those who are stepping in with an optimism and an energy that makes the magic. You see it when dancers take pride in introducing themselves in their indigenous language and often say the names of their parents and grandparents.

[Margaret Sutherland]

Uva na Ataga Kuting Kurdis to embrace.

[Rhonda McBride]

A connection that transcends time and gives meaning to their world. In ANCHORAGE, I'm Rhonda McBride.

[Casey Grove]

Days before Typhoon Ha Long wreaked havoc on Western Alaska, nearly 100 residents from the village of Shaktulik evacuated to nearby Unalakleet. Both communities avoided major damage, but as KOM's Ben Townsend reports, it created a special opportunity for elders from around the Norton Sound region to reconnect.

[Tracy Cooper]

Memories of 2022's Ex Typhoon Murbach are still fresh in the minds of Norton Sound residents. Millions of dollars in damages were reported and livelihoods were upended. So when forecasters announced that another ex typhoon was on a collision course with the region, preparations were already underway in the village of Shaktulik to ensure the safety of its residents.

[Donna Erickson]

They figured they had potentially 38 people that would need to evacuate from Shaktulik.

[Tracy Cooper]

That'S native village of Unalakleet general manager Tracy Cooper. She says she received an email from officials with the city of Shaktulik Friday. By the time it hit her inbox, some residents were already making the 35 mile journey to Unala Cleete by boat. On Saturday, planes operated by regional airline Bering Air and the Bering Strait School District were also flying in residence. In total, 88 people made the short trip to Unalakleet, just over half of the people in Chaktulik at the time. Unalakleet resident Donna Erickson planned to stay home to ride out the storm, but as winds picked up Saturday night, she and other elders were moved to higher ground at Unalakleet's elders Assisted Living Facility.

[Donna Erickson]

I was told I had to pack a bag and immediately get off because our our home is right on the beach.

[Tracy Cooper]

When Erickson arrived, she says she saw staff gearing up for a long night keeping watch on the evacuees got there.

[Donna Erickson]

I saw how tired they were and I said, let me take over the kitchen. I'll feed everybody.

[Tracy Cooper]

Another unilocleat resident shuttled people to the facility and dropped off moose ribs and muktuk. Erickson says she went to work on the ingredients and dished out heaping piles of muktuk, a giant pan of cornbread and bowls of moose stew. She says the elders could even tell the moose was harvested by a lake where it fed on sweet lily pads.

[Donna Erickson]

Because there are hunters. These old men, they really know the animals. They're intimate with hunting and knowing all of the elder wisdom.

[Tracy Cooper]

The facility overlooks Una Laclete from a hill northeast of town. The group sat around sharing stories as they watched the storm roll in.

[Donna Erickson]

It was kind of eerie because the big huge picture windows faces the ocean. The river and the village, and we could see the whole place get totally flooded. All of the flats and the road was just a little tiny strip of land.

[Tracy Cooper]

Erickson says about 20 elders ended up spending the evening together Sunday riding out the storm.

[Donna Erickson]

We ended up having couple hours of singing and playing guitars, and it turned out to be a very beautiful time for everybody.

[Tracy Cooper]

Wind gusts peaked at 69 miles an hour just before noon Sunday, peeling up the roofs of several buildings, including Unilocleat post office. But village GM Cooper says she was grateful unilocleete was spared from the worst of the storm.

[Donna Erickson]

This affected a lot of us to worry about folks in other villages. We're so interconnected and very thankful that this wasn't as bad as predicted. But I had to go out to the folks there on the delta and search and rescue efforts there.

[Tracy Cooper]

Bering Air resumed flights Monday and is working with the native village of Unalaklete to return the evacuees to Shaktulik, where only minor structural damage has been reported. In Nome, I'm Ben Townsh.

[Casey Grove]

And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're [e-mail] and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Eric Stone in Juneau, Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. rhonda McBride and Hannah Fluor in Anchorage, Margaret Sutherland in Dillingham, Ashlyn o' Hara in Nikiski and Ben Townsend in Nome. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email [e-mail] Our audio engineer is Chris Hyde. Madeline Rose is our producer and I'm Casey Grove. Good night.