Alaska hit by a storm of rare power
A storm of rare power hits western Alaska, causing huge waves and flooding that washed away homes.
In Anchorage on September 17, 2022.
AFP
“The remnants of Typhoon Merbok will hit western Alaska (…) over the weekend, with extreme surf, hurricane-force wind gusts, coastal erosion, and severe rains,” the US Weather Services (NWS) announced on Saturday. “The floods will get worse,” they added.
“This is hands down the strongest storm this early in the fall that we’ve seen in the Bering Sea in the past 50 years,” University of Alaska climate scientist Rick Thoman told AFP.
In the coastal village of Golovin, “water surrounds the school, houses are flooded, at least two houses are floating,” described municipal services in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city.
Images posted on social media show extensive damage. CNN released a video showing a house floating on a river before getting stuck under a bridge.
“Very angry sea”
The NWS describes ‘very angry seas’ along the coast around Nome, with 3.3 meter waves.
Wind gusts of up to 145 km / h have been recorded, according to the NWS, which forecasts others even stronger.
The flood warning remains in effect until Saturday 10 p.m. (Sunday 8 a.m. in Switzerland) in the southern coastal areas and until Sunday 8:30 a.m. in the northern regions, towards which the storm is heading. clarified the weather services on Facebook.
AFP
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