Alaska

Federal government denies Dunleavy request to fully pay for initial Western Alaska storm response

Published

4 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

Federal government denies Dunleavy request to fully pay for initial Western Alaska storm response

Homes and storage sheds are left collided and collapsed in Kipnuk by Typhoon Halong in October 2025. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Federal officials have denied Alaska’s request to cover all initial expenses associated with a costly and complicated disaster response effort following a catastrophic Western Alaska storm last fall.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is appealing the decision, revising his request to ask that the Federal Emergency Management Agency instead pay 90% of the cost.

In early October, the remnants of Typhoon Halong inundated numerous Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities and destroyed swaths of the Yup’ik villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. The storm left one person dead and two missing when their home was swept away by floodwaters.

After the storm, Dunleavy asked FEMA to cover 100% of costs incurred during an initial 90-day period after the storm. In a Jan. 16 letter to the agency appealing the denial, Dunleavy said it was one of Alaska’s most “rapid, complex, and aviation-intensive emergency operations in its history.”

An Oct. 22 federal disaster declaration for the region from President Donald Trump approved $25 million to cover the cost of recovery efforts in Western Alaska.

FEMA denied Dunleavy’s request to fully fund the initial response in a Dec. 20 letter, saying only that “it has been determined that the increased level of funding you have requested” to help cover disaster response expenses “is not warranted.”

FEMA officials didn’t immediately provide further details when asked about the denial on Friday.

In his appeal letter, Dunleavy said state wasn’t asking for extra accommodations beyond the 90-day window and still expected to be primarily responsible for “the broader recovery mission” of rebuilding and mitigating future risk.

“This limited, focused adjustment will allow Alaska and its partners to maintain essential public services, manage an extraordinarily complex and winter-constrained housing and lifeline mission, and continue investing State, local, and tribal resources into mitigation and stabilization,” Duleavy wrote. “It represents not an expansion of government, but a targeted use of Federal authority to back a State that has acted decisively.”

An unsuccessful appeal, Dunleavy warned in the letter, would threaten state or local services.

When asked how the state would pay for the expenses if the appeal failed, Dunleavy spokesperson Jeff Turner said that “the administration will await the federal government’s decision.”

State officials didn’t know when to expect that decision, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesperson Jeremy Zidek said.

Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich had also urged the Trump administration to authorize the 100% cost share in an Oct. 17 letter.

Spokespeople for all three members of the delegation said Friday that they believed Alaska should receive a higher cost share and supported the state’s appeal. All said they were engaging with the Trump administration about the issue.

Typically, the federal government pays for 75% of costs during that initial 90-day response window, Zidek said.

The state successfully petitioned FEMA for a deviation from that ratio last in 2018, Zidek said, when it agreed to cover 90% of 90-day recovery costs following the November 2018 Southcentral Alaska earthquake.

For the most recent disaster, response work in the first weeks “was very costly” and included flying crews out to complete work such as village airport runway repairs or road and bridge assessments, he said.

Dunleavy in his letter said this disaster response work has been more expensive than many other emergency recovery efforts due to “Alaska’s uniquely limited tax base and the extraordinary cost of operating in remote, roadless western Alaska.”

Officials said they expect repair and mitigation work to take years.

In the first weeks after the storm, the state incurred $20 million in expenses for work like debris removal and the largest mass airlift evacuation in Alaska history, Dunleavy said.

As of Thursday, 475 evacuees remained in non-congregate shelters at Anchorage hotels, while 216 had been moved to longer-term apartment-style housing, according to a Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management daily report. Most evacuees are from the hardest-hit villages of Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, where Dunleavy said 90% of its structures were severely damaged or destroyed.

Officials expect the first three months of shelter and evacuee support expenses to total $12.5 million, according to the state’s appeal letter.

It’s too early, however, to estimate what the total response costs will amount to for that 90-day period because many agencies and organizations have yet to tally their costs and submit them to officials for reimbursement, Zidek said.

Estimated costs also don’t include “emergency expenditures” racked up by local and tribal governments, regional tribal nonprofits, Alaska Native corporations and other non-state groups, Dunleavy said.

“Many of these are small, fiscally limited entities that have already borne significant non-reimbursable disaster costs,” Dunleavy wrote. “Without a 90/10 cost share for the first 90 days, these disaster response partners will be forced to cut essential local services and limit additional disaster recovery actions.”

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

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Alaska

Opinion: Homework for Alaska: Sales tax or income tax?

Published

22 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Opinion: Homework for Alaska: Sales tax or income tax?

iStock / Getty Images

This is a tax tutorial for gubernatorial candidates, for legislators who will report to work next year and for the Alaska public.

Think of it as homework, with more than eight months to complete the assignment that is not due until the November election. The homework is intended to inform, not settle the debate over a state sales tax or state income tax — or neither, which is the preferred option for many Alaskans.

But for those Alaskans willing to consider a tax as a personal responsibility to help fund schools, roads, public safety, child care, state troopers, prisons, foster care and everything else necessary for healthy and productive lives, someday they will need to decide on a state income tax or a state sales tax after they accept the checkbook reality that oil and Permanent Fund earnings are not enough.

This homework assignment is intended to get people thinking with facts, not emotions. Electing the right candidates will be the first test.

Alaskans have until the next election because nothing will change this year. It will take a new political alignment led by a reality-based governor to organize support in the Legislature and among the public.

But next year, maybe, with the right elected leadership, Alaskans can debate a state sales tax or personal income tax. Plus, of course, corporate taxes and oil production taxes, but those are for another school day.

One of the biggest arguments in favor of a state sales tax is that visitors would pay it. Yes, they would, but not as much as many Alaskans think.

Air travel is exempt from sales taxes. So are cruise ship tickets. That’s federal law, which means much of what tourists spend on their Alaska vacation is beyond the reach of a state sales tax.

Cutting further into potential revenues, state and federal law exempts flightseeing tours from sales tax, which is a particularly costly exemption when you think about how much visitors spend on airplane and helicopter tours.

That leaves sales tax supporters collecting from tourists on T-shirts, gifts for grandchildren, artwork, postcards, hotels, Airbnb, car rentals and restaurant meals. Still a substantial take for taxes, but far short of total tourism spending.

An argument against a state sales tax is that more than 100 cities and boroughs already depend on local sales taxes to pay for schools and other public services. Try to imagine what a state tax piled on top of a local tax would do to kill shopping in Homer, already at 7.85%, or Kodiak, Wrangell and Cordova, all at 7%, and all the other municipalities.

Supporters of an income tax say it would share the responsibility burden with nonresidents who earn income in Alaska and then return home to spend their money.

Almost one in four workers in Alaska in 2024 were nonresidents, as reported by the state Department of Labor in January. That doesn’t include federal employees, active-duty military or self-employed people.

Nonresidents earned roughly $3.8 billion, or about 17% of every dollar covered in the report.

However, many of those nonresident workers are lower-wage and seasonal, employed in the seafood processing and tourism industries, unlikely to pay much in income taxes. But a tax could be structured so that they pay something, which is fair.

Meanwhile, higher-wage workers in oil and gas, mining, construction and airlines (freight and passenger service) would pay taxes on their income earned in Alaska, which also is fair.

It comes down to what would direct more of the tax burden to nonresidents: a tax on income or on visitor spending. Wages or wasabi-crusted salmon dinners.

Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist, with breaks for federal, state and municipal public policy work in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper.

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Alaska

Nome brothers summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, carry Alaska flag to third major peak

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Nome brothers summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, carry Alaska flag to third major peak

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Two brothers from Nome recently stood at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, planting an Alaska flag at 19,000 feet above the African plains.

The Hoogendorns completed the seven-day climb — five and a half days up and a day and a half down — trekking through rainforest, desert, and alpine terrain before reaching snow near the summit. The climb marks their third of the world’s seven summits.

Night hike to the top

The brothers began their final summit push at midnight, hiking through the night to reach the top by dawn.

“It was almost like a dream,” Oliver said. “Because we hiked through the night. We started the summit hike at midnight when you’re supposed to be sleeping. So, it was kind of like, not mind boggling, but disorienting. Because you’re hiking all night, but then you get to the top and you can finally see. It’s totally different from what you’d expect.”

At the summit, temperatures hovered around 10 degrees — a familiar range for the Nome brothers. Their guides repeatedly urged them to put on jackets, but the brothers declined.

“We got to the crater, and it was dark out and then it started getting brighter out,” Wilson said. “And then you could slowly see the crater like illuminating and it’s huge. It’s like 3 miles across or something. Like you could fly a plane down on the crater and be circles if you want to. Really dramatic view.”

A team of 17 for two climbers

Unlike their previous expeditions, the brothers were supported by a crew of 17 — including porters, a cook, guides, a summit assistant, and a tent setup crew.

The experience deviated from their earlier climbs, where they carried their own food, melted snow for water, and navigated routes independently.

“I felt spoiled,” Wilson said. “I was like, man, the next mountain’s gonna be kind of hard after being spoiled.”

Alaska flag on every summit

Oliver carried the same full-size Alaska flag on all three of his major summits, including in South America and Denali in North America, despite the added weight in his pack.

“I take it everywhere these days,” Oliver said. “It’s always cool to bring it out. And then people ask, you know, ‘where’s that flag from?’ Say Alaska.”

When asked about his motivation for the expeditions, Wilson said “I guess to like inspire other people. Because it seems like a lot of people think they can’t do something, but if you just try it, you probably won’t do good the first time, but second time you’ll do better. Because you just got to try it out. Believe in yourself.”

Background and next goals

The Hoogendorns won the reality competition series “Race to Survive: Alaska” in 2023. In 2019, they were the first to climb Mount McKinley and ski down that season. Oliver also started a biking trip from the tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay with hopes of still completing it.

Kilimanjaro is their third summit. The brothers said they hope to eventually complete all seven summits, with Mount Vinson in Antarctica among the peaks they are considering next… all while taking Alaska with them every step of the way.

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