Alaska
CT fishermen tell harrowing tale of survival after boat capsizes in Alaska
MIDDLETOWN — Two native younger males almost misplaced their lives on a fishing journey to Alaska in July when the 18-foot aluminum boat they have been in capsized, an ordeal they mentioned modified the best way they view their future.
Adam Tarnacki, 26, who has lived in Middletown since elementary college, and Nick Bengtson, 32, of Middlefield almost have been trapped within the vessel because it stuffed with water after flipping over, they mentioned.
Bengtson received fish hooks caught in his hand as he searched the sunken boat for all times jackets. One way or the other, he indifferent the hooks, and the lads have been pressured to outlive chilly Alaskan waters for greater than three hours. Throughout two of these, they have been dragged alongside the coast by highly effective ocean currents.
Tarnacki, who has written articles for fishing publications and has labored on business and constitution boats in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, mentioned the pair flew to Petersburg, Alaska, shortly after the July 4 vacation. From there, he and Bengtson traveled to a fishing lodge on Kupreanof Island, utilizing a lodge vessel throughout their first full day there.
“The fishing was really actually good” that first day, Tarnacki mentioned.
On the second day, they took out a 18-foot coated skiff to provide them shelter from drizzly and uncooked circumstances as temperatures hovered within the higher 50s to low 60s. Whereas the climate wasn’t nice, it was nice for fishing, Tarnacki mentioned. “There was virtually no wind, which is an important,” he mentioned.
The pair took the boat to a spot recognized for very large halibut, however had no luck that day. They have been on the brink of elevate the anchor and depart the spot when bother hit with out warning.
Issues take flip for worse
“The largest concern was the boat filling up with water,” Tarnacki mentioned. It wasn’t that a lot water, and a typical pump would have mounted the issue, however the pump on the boat was damaged, he mentioned. “We observed the transom of the boat getting decrease to the water,” he mentioned. The pair determined to maneuver the boat to get the water to circulation out the again, however, earlier than they may do this, three rogue waves hit.
“That’s when the boat capsized,” Tarnacki mentioned. “It took two or three seconds.”
Tarnacki was down within the boat’s cabin and needed to really feel his method out of the boat. “Inside a number of seconds, I used to be capable of get out,” he mentioned. “It was only a few seconds, however it felt like loads longer.”
The pair treaded water close to the vessel for about an hour, and struggled to climb on prime of the boat’s slippery backside. They usually have been knocked off by waves.
Bengtson, who had earlier expertise with Alaskan fishing expeditions, advised Tarnacki that they shouldn’t attempt to swim to shore with out life jackets.
One other dangerous stroke of luck struck, the lads mentioned. Bengtson misplaced his telephone when the boat capsized, and Tarnacki’s cellphone was not capable of make calls. Thankfully, Tarnacki had downloaded a map that they may use on the telephone to find out they have been a few mile from shore.
Bengtson determined to swim into the inverted boat to seek for life jackets. He couldn’t entry them, however, whereas inside, he received two fishing hooks lodged in his hand. They have been floating within the boat and have been nonetheless tied to the poles.
“Nick was underwater with two fishing traces in his hand,” Tarnacki mentioned. “He got here up for air after which dove again down to drag them out.”
“I had one hook out, and the opposite hook was in too deep in my hand so I couldn’t get it out,” Bengtson mentioned. “I received tied to the boat with my fishing rods.”
With one hook nonetheless in his hand, he discovered sufficient slack to come back up for a breath of air then resubmerged himself.
Bengtson used his enamel to chew partway by means of the fishing line and his palms to interrupt the 150-pound line.
‘It wasn’t our time to die’
Unable to entry the life jackets, Tarnacki and Bengtson did handle to get two brightly coloured polyballs, that are buoyant in water. That proved to be essential to their survival after they tied them to their our bodies and commenced to swim — for an extended distance than anticipated.
“These two polyballs saved our lives,” Tarnacki mentioned.
“That’s once we determined to go for it and make the swim,” mentioned Bengtson. “It wasn’t going to be simple, however it wasn’t time to die.”
“After we left the boat, my pondering was there was a superb likelihood I might die,” Tarnacki mentioned. Principally, I used to be going through dying. However I simply knew I needed to not quit. If I had an opportunity to reside, I needed to not less than strive.”
The pair estimate the swim took two-and-a-half hours. Tarnacki mentioned they didn’t discover the coolness as one would count on. “On the time, you don’t really feel the chilly due to the adrenaline rush,” he mentioned.
It was a lot tougher with the sturdy currents, he added.
After they approached shore, the lads have been dragged for about six miles. “The kicker was, the currents have been so quick that, once we received inside 50 or 100 yards [of shore], we received swept previous it,” Bengtson mentioned.
Hours into the swim, Bengtson was about 25 yards forward of Tarnacki and appeared again to examine on his buddy. When he swung again round, a large sea lion was looking at him about 10 ft away, he added. The creatures have recognized to be aggressive, Bengtson mentioned.
“I began panicking,” he recalled. “I freaked out. I lastly thought, ‘That is it. I’m finished.’”
Then he felt his hand hit one thing arduous — which at first he thought was the ocean lion. “However it was a rock,” Bengtson mentioned. “I had hit shore.”
He mentioned the hours within the chilly water made his legs ineffective. “I received to face up and couldn’t,” Bengtson mentioned. “I collapsed.”
When Tarnacki climbed to shore behind him, the 2 laid there for about an hour, attempting to get well. “We couldn’t transfer,” Bengtson mentioned.
Tarnacki remembered that the damp, cloudy circumstances modified abruptly. “The second we received to shore, the solar got here out for the primary time in three days,” he mentioned. “The solar was shining down on us.”
The center of nowhere
They discovered themselves in the course of nowhere in southeast Alaska. “There isn’t any city,” Bengtson mentioned. “There’s nothing on the market.”
Tarnacki mentioned they have been on the south facet of an island that had some growth on the north finish. The island, which isn’t accessible by airplane, had treacherous, steep and rocky terrain, and was populated by grizzly bears and different harmful wildlife, he added.
The lads started to arrange for potential rescue by drying their garments, and constructing a makeshift shelter out of logs and particles discovered on the seaside. They original a flagpole from buoys and foam boards in hopes of attracting consideration from rescuers or passersby.
That evening on the fishing lodge, a younger man grew involved the lads had not returned to the lodge for dinner. He consulted different friends and workers, however, as a result of it stays mild in Alaska till late at evening throughout summer season, nobody was too alarmed, Bengtson mentioned.
Coast Guard rescue
Sunday morning, lodge workers carried out a search, and the younger man notified the U.S. Coast Guard, which, in keeping with Tarnacki, deployed a airplane, helicopter and cutter ship. The lodge shared data with the company about the place the pair had been fishing, however the currents that carried the lads far-off sophisticated the search, they mentioned.
Issues started wanting up on Sunday morning. “I noticed a break within the horizon,” Tarnacki mentioned. “I couldn’t inform what it was at first.” He ran a half-mile to an elevated part of the seaside and swung the brilliant polyball to attract consideration.
Bengtson mentioned it then appeared that the boat was turning away from them, so his coronary heart sank. “I believed that was it,” he recalled. “We have been caught out right here.”
Tarnacki stored swinging the polyball, and, “after 10 minutes, I noticed the boat heading in our course.”
Bengtson additionally was relieved to see the boat navigating towards the rocky shore. “I noticed the boat pull up, and I waded out into the water,” he mentioned. “That was the best feeling in my life — getting pulled into that boat.”
“I used to be ecstatic. … It was excessive reduction,” his buddy added.
Nonetheless fishing
The Coast Guard introduced the lads to the lodge, and, after a number of hours there, the pair resumed fishing. “We went again out on a ship that evening,” Bengtson mentioned. “I used to be afraid that if I didn’t return out instantly that I’d be afraid to do it.”
They returned once more quickly afterward. “The subsequent day, I received the most important halibut of my life,” Bengtson mentioned.
The expertise modified Bengtson. “I’ve a complete completely different outlook in life,” he mentioned. “I’m doing issues I get pleasure from and issues I don’t get pleasure from.”
He has gone fishing a number of occasions for the reason that Alaska journey, “however nothing main,” Bengtson added. He pledged to be higher ready for boating disasters sooner or later by getting high quality communication gadgets.
Tarnacki mentioned the “good accident” has prompted him to embrace journey much more than previously. He has gone deep sea fishing “method out on the ocean” about 10 occasions since.
“You’ll be able to’t maintain on to the previous,” he mentioned. “You’ll be able to solely be taught from it. Life is brief, and we must always take each expertise we are able to since you by no means know when your final day is,” he added.
Alaska
Short-lived cold snap, with another warming trend this weekend
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Temperatures across the state are cooling off, as our strong low from the weekend moves into the Chukchi Sea. This will set up for colder air to spread across the state this week, as another short-lived cold snap is expected. While some light snow is possible for the Interior, areas of the Slope and Western Alaska, Southcentral will stay on the drier side until the night. Meanwhile, Southeast will continue to hold onto moderate rain with gusty conditions.
SOUTHCENTRAL:
Temperatures this morning are 10 to 20 degrees colder than yesterday, as colder air has settled back into Southcentral. Clear skies and calm winds are evident this morning for parts of the region, with light snow falling through the Copper River Basin. We’ll see fairly quiet conditions today, outside of Kodiak which will see increasing snow and rain into the afternoon and evening hours. This comes as our next area of low pressure moves up the Alaska Peninsula.
We’ll see light snow spreading north across the Kenai overnight into Wednesday, with light snow expected through Prince William Sound. Several inches are likely through the Kenai and Chugach Mountains, with the pass expected to see a couple of inches of accumulation. Western parts of the Kenai will see the potential for a few inches, while inland areas of Southcentral largely stay dry. If Anchorage and surrounding locations see any accumulation, it’ll amount to less than half an inch.
As snow tapers off Wednesday, we’ll see the return to colder and drier conditions into Thursday. Thursday may be the coldest day this week across the region, before another warming trend carries us into next week. Right now holding with snow through early next week, but areas of wintry mix are possible as highs warm above freezing.
SOUTHEAST:
The winter storm warning for Skagway and higher elevations expired at 6am this morning. While some light snow showers are still possible, little accumulation will occur the rest of the day. Scattered to periodic showers are occurring elsewhere across Southeast today, with less than half an inch of rainfall through the day. Any moisture available into the evening will see a transition to some wintry mix or snow into Wednesday morning. However, the better chance will come from another low lifting north into the panhandle. Any snow and wintry mix we see for Wednesday will primarily stay confined to the central and southern panhandle. We’ll see much cooler weather taking hold this week for Southeast.
INTERIOR:
Some areas of light snow are possible this morning, with less than half an inch to be expected. While temperatures are still warm for much of the Interior, highs will steadily fall throughout the day. Many areas will see lows bottom out near or below zero by tomorrow morning. We’ll see high pressure keep things dry and sunny through the next couple of days, with the coldest stretch of weather from Wednesday morning into Thursday morning. Much like the rest of the state will experience, a warming trend arrives this weekend. We’ll see the return to highs in the 20s, with some snow in the forecast. Be prepared for some gusty conditions through the Alaska Range by the close of this week.
SLOPE/WESTERN ALASKA:
Areas of light snow and blowing winds will continue to impact the Slope, with a winter weather advisory remaining in place for the Central Brooks Range and the Beaufort Sea Coast. Both locations will see up to 1 inch of snow and gusty winds up to 35 mph. While the winter weather advisory will expire for the Central Brooks Range this afternoon, the Beaufort Sea Coast will see the alert continue into Tuesday evening. Snow and blowing snow will be the primary impact today, with a return to colder weather through the rest of this week, this comes as high pressure settles into the area.
The storm responsible for the damaging winds for Southcentral over the weekend, has pushed north into the Chukchi Sea. We’ll still see some light snow accumulations for Western Alaska, with 1 to 3 inches expected. Some fo the heaviest snow will fall across the Seward Peninsula and the Western Brooks Range.
An area of low pressure in the Bering Sea will keep gusty winds and snow in the forecast for Gambell/St. Lawrence. Be prepared for heavy snow at times and areas of reduced visibility. Overall, colder weather will settle into Western Alaska, with the possibility of morning fog in the valleys over the next few mornings.
ALEUTIANS:
Some light areas of snow will occur for the Pribilof Islands and into parts of the Alaska Peninsula today, as a weak low moves up the Peninsula. This will be the main focus for snow into Wednesday for Southcentral. This low will bring heavy precipitation and gusty winds for the Eastern Aleutians and the Alaska Peninsula. Looking ahead through the rest of the week, we can expect to see more a ridge beginning to build into the region. This ridge will slowly shift east, keeping several upper level disturbances traversing the Aleutians. Temperatures will remain fairly warm in the 30s and 40s.
OUTLOOK AHEAD:
Model consensus continues to agree on another warming trend heading our way into next week. This stretch of warmth will likely lead to many spots cementing themselves within the top warmest January’s on record. While we’ll spend the rest of this week on the colder side, highs steadily climb this weekend into next week. We’ll see highs in Southcentral climbing back above freezing, with areas of the Interior climbing back into the 20s.
Have a safe and wonderful Tuesday!
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska hit by hurricane-force winds, structures damaged across city
Associated Press
Hurricane-force winds cause widespread damage in Alaska’s largest city
Thousands of residents across Alaska’s largest city were still without power Monday, a day after a powerful storm brought hurricane-force winds that downed power lines, damaged trees, forced more than a dozen planes to divert, and caused a pedestrian bridge over a highway to partially collapse. A 132-mph (212-kph) wind gust was recorded at a mountain weather station south of Anchorage. A large low-pressure system in the Bering Sea brought the high winds, moisture and warmer than average temperatures — in the low 40s Fahrenheit (slightly over 4.4 degrees Celsius) — to Anchorage on Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tracen Knopp.
Alaska
Thousands without power in Alaska after hurricane-force winds hit
Thousands of residents in Anchorage, Alaska, faced widespread devastation and power outages Monday after hurricane-strength winds battered the city on Sunday.
Why It Matters
This latest incident comes as power outages across the United States have become a growing concern as extreme weather events increase in frequency and intensity, often leaving millions of Americans in precarious situations. Hurricanes, wildfires, ice storms and heatwaves have caused widespread disruptions, highlighting the vulnerability of aging electrical grids to severe conditions.
Prolonged outages not only hinder daily life by cutting off access to heating, cooling and essential appliances but also pose significant risks to public health, particularly for the elderly and those with medical conditions reliant on powered devices.
What To Know
The Anchorage storm, which began Sunday, delivered gusts reaching 132 mph at a mountain weather station south of the city, according to the National Weather Service. Within Anchorage itself, winds hit 75 mph, toppling trees, scattering debris and partially collapsing a pedestrian bridge over the Seward Highway, the city’s main southern thoroughfare.
At the height of the storm, 17,500 customers were without power, according to Julie Hasquet, spokesperson for Chugach Electric Association. As of Monday, roughly 5,700 homes remained offline with full restoration expected to stretch into Tuesday.
The storm’s chaos wasn’t limited to neighborhoods. Anchorage’s airport, a vital hub for passenger and cargo traffic, saw significant disruptions. Winds forced 13 aircraft, including a U.S. Air Force plane, to divert to Fairbanks, which sits nearly 360 miles away.
On the ground, emergency crews scrambled to clear bridge debris, which had obstructed traffic on the highway. However, no injuries were reported when the side fencing and roof of the bridge fell onto the four-lane divided highway on Sunday. Traffic was rerouted and crews removed the debris.
Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Shannon McCarthy pointed to the winds as the probable cause of the bridge failure. However, structural engineers are investigating to determine the full extent of the damage.
Meanwhile, the storm marked a rare convergence of high winds, warmer-than-average temperatures and moisture from a low-pressure system in the Bering Sea, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tracen Knopp. Anchorage saw temperatures in the low 40s Fahrenheit, unusual for mid-winter.
What People Are Saying
Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said: “The winds were the leading cause, but our bridge engineers will be out there today and may be able give us a more comprehensive analysis of what happened.”
Julie Hasquet, a spokesperson for Chugach Electric Association, said some customers may not have power back on until Tuesday. She said: “When our crews show up for repairs, they don’t know what they’re going to find.”
Resident Steven Wood told Anchorage television station KTUU about how he and his family was watching the winds blow things around the yard Sunday morning when they saw their neighbor’s roof partially blow off and head right toward them.
“All of a sudden, I see the roof start to peel off, and all I can yell is, ‘Incoming! Everybody run!’” Wood said.
What Happens Next
Cleanup efforts are underway in Anchorage as the city begins recovering from the powerful storm.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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