One week after a series of four storms battered western Alaska with hurricane force winds, Alaska's Governor Parnell made a verbal declaration of a state disaster this Saturday for affected communities in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Bering Straits Regional Education Attendance Area, and the Lower Yukon.

Governor Parnell and Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Katkus, commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, traveled to Unalakleet and Kotlik. The governor and general held a townhall meeting in Kotlik to listen to the concerns of residents there. Those concerns focused on the well-being of the elders, water/sewer issues, and lost food stores.

“The State of Alaska will continue to provide all available assets to assist those impacted by the brutal storms that have caused considerable damage,” Governor Parnell said. “Ensuring residents are safe and repairing infrastructure remain my top priorities.”

Deployment of State Emergency Management Teams took place as well and worked to get community infrastucture back up and running. One village, Kotlik suffered severe damage to its water and sewer systems and boardwalks floated away in the storms. Many buildings in that community suffered extensive damage, some knocked from their foundations by the raging weather.

Several homes were damaged in Unalakleet as well. Pipes transporting untreated water to the sewage treatment plant also suffered damage by the storms.

Access to grant funding from the Disaster Relief Fund will be opened up and Homeland Security and Emergency Management will work with the community leaders as a result of the governor’s declaration.

“The communities that suffered the impact of these storms have done a tremendous job and deserve a lot of credit,” Maj. Gen. Katkus said. “The state emergency operations center was staffed and operational during the entire event, and coordinated proactive measures to minimize damages, and protect community infrastructure.”