Powerful autumn storms, including Typhoon Halong, struck Alaska’s western coast this week, washing away homes and businesses, driving storm surges up to about 6–7 feet above normal tides, toppling boardwalks and fuel tanks, severing water and sewer lines, and knocking out power and air access; at least one person has died and two are missing, and more than 1,500 people are displaced across the wider Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta (about 1,600 in 13 shelters) with 300 today being airlifted into Anchorage.
At UnCruise Adventures, we feel these impacts deeply. Though our small ships do not sail along every stretch of Alaska’s coast, we are part of the greater Alaska community. The people and places that make up this vast state are central to our story and to the adventures we share with guests each season. When hardship reaches any corner of Alaska, it reaches all of us.
In a region shaped by resilience and interdependence, western Alaska’s communities responded with strength. Tribal leaders, regional organizations, and neighbors came together to assess damage, share resources, and begin recovery. Out of these efforts, a united initiative was formed: the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, hosted by the Alaska Community Foundation.
Alaskans Helping Alaskans
The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund was created by and for Alaskans. It ensures that support reaches the people who need it most, guided by local leaders who know their communities best. The fund focuses on immediate relief, recovery assistance, and long-term resilience planning so villages can rebuild homes, restore services, and strengthen preparedness.
Caring for Alaska’s wild places begins with caring for the Alaskans and Alaska Native communities who steward them.
How to Support
If you would like to help families and communities across western Alaska recover and rebuild, you can contribute to the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund.
These funds will help organizations like:
- Association of Village Council Presidents
- Alaska Federation of Natives
- Alaska Native Heritage Center
- Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
- ANCSA Regional Association
- Bethel Community Services Foundation
- Calista Corporation
- Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation
- First Alaskans Institute
- Kawerak, Inc.
- Maniilaq Association
- Native Peoples Action
- Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation
