Typhoon Halong strands pets in Alaska roadless region the size of Oregon

Evacuees from flooded villages ordered to leave pets behind

BETHEL, Alaska––With only one confirmed human death,  three people missing and feared dead,  and thirty to 50 dogs believed stranded in the Native American village of Kwigillingok,  population about 300,  with comparable numbers believed to be stranded in six other evacuated villages,  the tail end of Typhoon Halong now ravaging northwestern Alaska is not a major disaster by the numbers.

But Halong hit with 107-mile-per-hour winds and high water,  too cold for victims to survive long immersion,  yet not cold enough yet to freeze into the winter ice pack that enables snow machines to traverse a landscape mostly impassible by cars and trucks,  and not easily navigated by boat or even float plane.

Double whammy with winter coming

Typhoon Halong also came as a double whammy to the Yukon/Kuskokwim delta region,  explained indigenous activist Gabe Canfield,  also known in Alaska as Kungunna.

“Last week,”  Canfield wrote for Medium,  “a fall storm hit the western coast of Alaska,  its focal point hitting the communities of the Seward peninsula and Kotzebue sound.  Not even a week later,  what was coined the ‘remnants’ of typhoon Halong struck the same coast,  with its strongest effects hitting the communities of Kipnuk, Kwigillingok, Nightmute,  Chefornak,  Tuntutuliak, Napakiak,  and the local hub community of Bethel.

“Flooding in these communities ranged from four to over 14 feet of storm surge,”  rising so quickly that the surge “picked up houses with people still inside,  sending them floating upriver as far as seven miles away.  People in these houses had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and Alaskan Army National Guard,  as well as other community members.

“More than 1,800 people overnight became houseless,”  Canfield said.

Biggest airlift in Alaskan history

In short,  for the human and animal residents of approximately 50 Native American villages scattered across a swampy roadless region the size of Oregon,  south of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge,  Typhoon Halong came about as close to the end of the world as a disaster could,  short of Judgement Day.

This is where the Yukon and the Kuskokwim Rivers,  the two biggest in Alaska,  empty across the tundra into the Bering Sea.  Wet at all times,  the delta is now inundated.

An airlift believed to be the biggest in Alaskan history is trying to evacuate flooded villages that if not rendered permanently uninhabitable,  will at least be uninhabitable throughout the coming winter,  with many buildings collapsed,  some last seen floating out to sea,  and most of those structures remaining having suffered severe structural damage.

Air strips are flooded;  float planes land at risk of hitting floating debris.

Residents balk at leaving pets

“Hundreds of people were evacuated from the western Alaska village of Kipnuk,”  population previously about 500,  “after residents were told to pack a single bag and leave,”  reported Michelle Theriault Boots and Bella Biondini for the Anchorage Daily News.

“A similar mass evacuation in Kwigillingok was confirmed by officials with the state’s Emergency Operations Center,”  Boots and Biondini updated.

“The Alaska National Guard and other agencies used helicopters and even a huge C-17 Globemaster III military transport plane,”  relaying victims from Bethel to Anchorage,  500 miles away,  “where a majority of the evacuees will be sent” due to lack of closer emergency accommodations.

“Jacqui Lang,  a teacher at the Chief Paul Memorial School in Kipnuk,  said many residents don’t want to go,”  Boots and Biondine mentioned,  after having been told “to leave their pets and almost all belongings behind.”

Private pilots to the rescue

As of October 15,  2025,  Boots and Biondini said,  Lang “was trying to coordinate with Bethel Friends of Canines to get the animals still in the village out,  putting on duct-tape collars with owner information to help owners find animals if an airlift can be arranged.”

Bethel Friends of Canines,  Boots and Biodini added,  “said they are coordinating with teachers in Kipnuk to get pets with an otherwise uncertain future out of the village and on to Bethel,”  the nearest city,  population 6,335.

“The group said people are helping in ‘creative ways,’  including private pilots transporting animals out,  and a few dogs are leaving by boat to nearby villages such as Chefornak ‘where regularly scheduled flights can get to Bethel and beyond much faster.’”

“A backpack of puppies and a tote of doggos!”

Exulted Bethel Friends of Canines  at approximately 10:00 p.m. on October 15,  2025,  “We got in our first batch of Kipnuk dogs!  A backpack of puppies and a tote of doggos!  A big thank you to the teachers in Kipnuk,  Jacqui and Kati,  and staff at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation!

“We have a charter with DeHaan Aviation heading out to pick up more dogs,  and will have more soon,”  Bethel Friends of Canines said,  extending “A big thank you to everyone who donated to make these charters happen!”

Finished Boots and Biodini,  “State officials in an October 15,  2025 update said that,  while evacuation of people was the priority,  there were efforts underway to coordinate rescues for stranded and displaced animals.”

Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Outreach & Straw For Dogs

In addition to Bethel Friends of Canines,  involved nonprofit animal aid organizations included Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Outreach,  Inc.,  a partnership of 10 veterinarians scattered around the state who on October 14,   2025 thanked Resolve Aviation and Hill’s Pet Nutrition for providing “1,000 pounds of dog food going out to typhoon/flood communities today!”

Straw For Dogs,  formed by Camilo Acevido with Nick and Kim Lajiness,  all of Fairbanks,  Alaska,  posted that “We have had to hold last week’s shipment of insulated dog houses headed to coastal communities because of the horrible storms.

“We had 11 houses ready to be dropped at the Anchorage Airport on October 10,  2025,”  Straw For Dogs said,  “but the prior load of 10 houses dropped the week before had still not made it to the dogs who were waiting for them,  so we decided to hold the October 10,  2025 shipment until the weather is more cooperative,  rather than have 21 houses out there in limbo somewhere.

“We anticipate a huge need”

“We also anticipate a huge need for houses for the rural communities that have been affected by the storms,  so our already long waitlist of about 20 is likely to more than double,”  Straw For Dogs said.

“We are working with Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach, Inc. and community members to provide shelter to dogs who have lost theirs as soon as we possibly can.

“We are certain there will be more than 50 dogs who have been left homeless with absolutely no shelter at all.

“We are blessed to say that all of the air carriers in Alaska help us in some way.  Some donate so many [doghouse transports] per month,  some discount any and all,  but even with a discount the cost to ship a 200-pound house and straw bundle from Anchorage to Bethel,  Kotzebue,  or Nome is about $215.00 per house.

“We encourage people to bring their dogs inside”

“While we at Straw For Dogs are not of the mindset that dogs should live outside in the cold away from their families,”  the Straw Dogs statement finished,  “the reality is that many do.

“We provide insulated dog houses and straw to dogs living outside in the harsh Alaskan climate. Even with a dog house and straw these living conditions are far from ideal.  However, sending these resources are the most immediate action we can take to provide a little comfort to dogs who are suffering in the elements.

“We continue to encourage people to bring their dogs inside,  at least periodically for love and socialization,  walk them,  and play with them.  We offer supplies to help with this as well.”

Federal help for pets nowhere to be seen

The federal Pets Evacuation & Transportation Standards Act of 2006,  or PETS Act for short,  passed after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August and September 2005,  requires that state and local emergency preparedness plans account for the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals,  including planning for their rescue,  care,  and sheltering.

The PETS Act authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance for pets,  including rescue,  care,  shelter,  and other essential needs during a declared disaster.

This can include reimbursing state and local governments for costs associated with animal rescue and care during an emergency.

But the PETS Act comes into effect only when a major disaster or emergency has been declared by the federal government.

So far as the Donald Trump administration is concerned,  at least for now,  Typhoon Halong never existed––even though Trump won Alaska’s three electoral votes with 54% of the Alaska popular vote.

$20 million in prevention funding axed

Non-observance of the PETS Act is not the only Yukon/Kuskokwim regionalcasualty of Trump administration budget cuts.

Observed Associated Press reporters Becky Bohrer and Jesse Bedaynm,  “A $20 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant to Kipnuk,  which was inundated by floodwaters, was terminated by the Trump administration,  a move challenged by environmental groups.  The grant was intended to protect the boardwalk residents use to get around the community,  as well as 1,400 feet of river from erosion,  according to a federal website that tracks government spending.”

The federal government shutdown due to Democratic opposition to Republican cuts to federal health care programs helping low-income families has not helped,  but the major Trump administration damage to the Yukon/Kuskokwim disaster prevention and response infrastructure had already been done.

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