The village of Kipnuk, largely submerged by the remnants of Typhoon Halong, is seen from the air on Oct. 12, 2025. Alaska Air National Guard rescue personnel conducted search and rescue operations there, and the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has worked with the Alaska Organized Militia and the U.S. Coast Guard in the response. (Photo provided by the Alaska National Guard)
The State of Alaska and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have extended the deadlines to apply for individual disaster assistance for those affected by October storms in Western Alaska.
The new deadline for applications is April 3. It is the second extension of the deadline to allow more people who were affected by remnants of Typhoon Halong and other storms to apply.
Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the new extensions are in place because FEMA approved additional regions to be included in its disaster declaration in early February.
“The extension of the deadline to apply is being done in order to give people in those other areas additional time to register for the federal program,” he said. “We’re going to extend our state deadline along with it, just to make sure that people have that additional time.” FEMA added the Kashunamiut Regional Educational Attendance Area, the Yupiit Regional Educational Attendance Area and the City of Saint Mary’s to its list of areas that are eligible for federal assistance. Those communities were already eligible for state assistance, Zidek said. Zidek said that so far more than 2,100 Alaskans have registered for both state and federal emergency assistance. FEMA offers disaster assistance of up to $44,800 per household for replacement of personal property, and $44,800 for repairing homes. More than a thousand Alaskans evacuated from Western Alaska following October storms that damaged dozens of communities. After the evacuations, nearly 700 displaced Alaskans were living in hotels in Anchorage. Zidek said the state and its nongovernment partners have moved more than half of the evacuees from hotels into temporary housing in apartments. He said the state aims to have all evacuees out of hotels and in temporary housing by the end of March. As of Thursday, FEMA has approved $36 million in federal individual assistance for 2,084 households. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
