A storm of rare strength is bearing down on western Alaska, causing massive waves and flooding that washed away homes, the US Weather Services (NWS) said on Saturday.
“The remnants of Typhoon Merbok will hit western Alaska… over the weekend, with extreme surf, hurricane-force winds, coastal erosion and heavy rains”, they said on Twitter.
“The floods will worsen,” they added.
“This is the strongest early storm we’ve seen in the Bering Sea in 50 years,” University of Alaska meteorologist Rick Thomann told AFP.
In the coastal village of Golovin, “the school was surrounded by water, houses were flooded, at least two houses were floating,” according to municipal services in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city.
Pictures posted on social media show widespread damage. CNN released video showing the house floating on the river before getting stuck under the bridge.
The NWS describes ‘very angry seas’ with 3.3m waves along the coast around Nome.
According to the NWS, gusts of up to 145 km/h were recorded, which is expected to be stronger than others.
A flood warning will be in effect until 10pm Saturday (6am GMT Sunday) for southern coastal areas and 8:30am Sunday for northern areas where the storm is headed, the weather service said on Facebook.
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