Bering Sea Storm: Powerful Winds Rip Roofs From Alaskan Homes
The epic Bering Sea storm slammed into western Alaska Wednesday. The storm is accompanied by powerful hurricane-force winds, surging seas, and destructive waves – which have flooded the Alaskan town of Nome.
There are currently no reports of injures. However, homes near the ocean have been evacuated and some roofs torn off of houses in the coastal town of Nome, where a 6-foot surge of water occurred Tuesday night.
In Nome, water reached the base of buildings and experts fear that more water could cause major damage.
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Meteorologist Scott Berg said that blizzard conditions prevailed through the night on Tuesday and several areas witnessed sustained winds of 60 mph and gusts of 80 mph.
Experts are warning that the storm surge could cause a rise in sea levels up to 10 feet. This could cause devastating flooding in the coastal communities along the western seaboard of the state.
Besides causing flooding, many fear that a storm of such heavy magnitude so early in the season will cause further beach erosion along already threatened communities.
The National Weather Service has said that the storm could be one of the worst Alaska has ever seen.
In a warning message the weather service said, “This will be an extremely dangerous and life threatening storm of an epic magnitude rarely experienced.”
"Essentially the entire west coast of Alaska is going to see blizzard and winter conditions - heavy snow, poor visibility, high winds,” said Bib Fischer, a lead forecaster for the NWS said yesterday.
Some areas in the western part of the state are projected to get more than a foot of snow and surges as high as 10 feet are expected.
