A nearly week-long funding delay by President Donald Trump, as well as cuts to federal weather forecasting personnel, likely exacerbated the devastation caused by the historic storm that hit Alaska earlier this month, a report from The Guardian revealed on Monday.
On October 12, the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, a remote area in southwestern Alaska which is home to about 20,000 Yup’ik Alaska Natives, was hit by one of the worst storms in its history—one that, Rick Thoman, a meteorologist and climate expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, explains was caused by a the remnants of a typhoon "likely fueled by the Pacific’s near-record warm surface temperatures this fall."
More than 2,000 people have now been forced to evacuate the region, with hundreds now taking shelter in a sports stadium on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus after being airlifted to safety by the Alaska National Guard. According to Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R), it could be more than 18 months before the survivors are able to return due to the severity of the damage.
On October 16, Dunleavy sent a request for Trump to issue a federal disaster declaration, which would free up around $25 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). That money would be used to clear debris, carry out protection and rescue operations, and shield roads, bridges, and other infrastructure from damage. It would also distribute funds to survivors of the storm to help them rebuild their homes and lives in the aftermath of the disaster.
"This incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments, and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster," the request said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) wrote in a follow-up to Dunleavy's request the following day: "With winter fast approaching, and transportation and broadband connectivity limited, there is an urgent need for federal aid to repair housing, restore utilities, and secure heating fuel before severe winter conditions set in."
Trump would not approve the request until October 22—keeping the essential funding frozen for nearly a full week.
As the wait went on, Dr. Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, wrote on social media that the delay was "directly keeping funding out of the hands of disaster survivors who need it."
“This disaster is of a severity that the request would have normally been signed within a day of receiving a governor’s request," Montano added. "Not doing so is a deeply alarming departure from what Americans have come to expect from the federal government in times of disaster."
It's not the first time this year that the Trump administration, which has announced its goal to "phase out" FEMA, has been met with scrutiny for a delayed disaster response.
When a flood devastated Texas this year, resulting in at least 138 deaths, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waited for more than three days to authorize funds for the battered region, which delayed the critical work of search and rescue teams and aerial surveillance of the damage. The ability to warn residents was also reportedly hindered by the firing of National Weather Service (NWS) employees; meanwhile, the firing of FEMA contractors left thousands of phone calls from survivors unanswered.
According to The Guardian, Trump's cuts may have played a similar role in Alaska. As a result of mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency was forced to adopt a state of "degraded operations," which included cancelling weather balloon launches from many of its most remote offices, including in Alaska.
Thoman noted that many of the areas impacted by the storm had not seen any weather balloon tests for several days or even months, which may have resulted in the storm's path remaining unclear until less than a day and a half before it crossed into Alaskan waters, which he said was "too late for evacuations in many places.”
The lack of information would have made forecasting more difficult for meteorologists, who are already overloaded as a result of staffing cuts. The National Weather Service's Alaska region's 200-person workforce was slashed by over 10% earlier this year. One meteorologist, who requested anonymity, told The Guardian that “we are understaffed" and that it seems like there is more on all our plates with the staffing shortages.”
Thoman also said other cuts may have impacted the ability to warn residents about the impending storm. He noted that KYUK, the public radio station in the region’s largest town, had lost 70% of its funding last month when the Trump administration stripped funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Notably, Trump eventually signed off on disaster aid for Alaska and has done the same for other Republican-led states like Nebraska, North Dakota, and Missouri. However, without explanation, he has denied the same funding to blue states, including Maryland, Vermont, and Illinois, leading to accusations that he is politicizing disaster aid.
But Alaska, one of the front lines of the climate crisis, has hardly been spared. In addition to the beleaguered federal response, the administration also canceled a $20 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant in May that was intended to protect the Alaska Native village of Kipnuk from coastal flooding and erosion caused by rising sea levels. It referred to the program as ”no longer consistent“ with agency priorities, with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin calling it an example of ”wasteful DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and environmental justice grants.“
Four months later, Kipnuk became engulfed in over six feet of water, and about 90% of the homes and structures there were destroyed. Nearly all of its residents were evacuated. The village may never be rebuilt.
