Ten Year Typhoon

So apparently I picked the year that the biggest typhoon in over a decade would hit Southwestern Alaska. I didn’t realize this was even a thing here. Imagine my surprise when I was told to expect my home to be gone when I got back to Kwethluk. I’ve spent the last four days in Bethel attending an administrator conference. We were supposed to return to Kwethluk Saturday afternoon but with 75-85 mph wind gusts and sustained winds of 35 mph flights were grounded and no boats were traveling the river. We received an email on Friday afternoon requesting permission from the village to use the school as an emergency shelter for those families whose homes wouldn’t stand up to the winds. For those of you who haven’t experienced these type winds I can tell you it’s not a gentle breeze. I walked about a mile into the wind to our conference each morning and a about a mile with a tail wind walking back to the hotel. I promise the afternoon trip was much quicker. The wind would almost push you along in a jog in the afternoon while in the morning we leaned so hard forward to make the walk that whenever the wind paused any we would almost fall on our faces.

We flew out of Kwethluk on Wednesday afternoon after our morning flight was moved due to weather. This is a reoccurring theme here. I’ve decided that anytime I have to fly locally I will book a morning flight even if I’m not due into Bethel until midnight. It’s just a safer bet. We’ve not heard any news from the village today. Hopefully all has gone well. Many villages south of us nearer the coast are flooded. There were 50 foot waves pounding the coast so I’m not surprised they experienced the flooding. One of the schools on the river near the coast has significant problems with erosion. The school is due to be replaced this year because the land it sits on will be gone within the year. Now that timeline has been sped up and they don’t know if that school will survive this storm. The worst of it should be gone in the next few hours. I’m hoping for clear skies and light breezes for our flight tomorrow.

Oddly enough I’m ready to get out of Bethel and back to the village. It’s odd how you grow accustomed to living out there and the big town seems an oddity and uncomfortable. I don’t know how it will be when I go home for a visit. Driving should be an adventure as well. I haven’t traveled more than 15 mph in a car in over a month except for the day the teacher drove us to the airfield to come to town. I was in the front seat and felt like we were flying down the road. I looked over and she was doing a smooth 30 mph and jumped every bump in the road. I almost reached over and put my seatbelt on. Highway 78 from Memphis will be the death of me. If I drive we’ll probably get run over and if I don’t I probably won’t survive Wanda driving at her normal speed.

When we get back to the village tomorrow I will post a blog and pictures if there is damage and there is internet and power. If there is no damage I’ll post later in the week.