Snow, hurricane-force winds batter Alaska coast

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? One of the strongest storms to hit western Alaska in nearly 40 years battered coastal communities Wednesday with snow and hurricane-force winds, knocking out power, ripping up roofs and forcing some residents to board up their windows and seek higher ground.

Emergency managers said Wednesday afternoon that the winds were tapering off, with 85-mph gusts winding down to 55-mph gusts. The storm passed through more southern points of its path. But managers warned that many points farther north on Alaska's western coast between Norton Sound and Point Hope remained vulnerable to a possible surge of sea water that could bring varying degrees of flooding to villages already soaked, depending on how much shoreline protection they have or don't have.

"This is a storm of epic proportions," said meteorologist Jeff Osiensky with the National Weather Service. "We're not out of the woods with this."

Some villages, such as Kivalina, could be even more vulnerable with winds shifting as they head to Russia, officials said.

Water reportedly reached some reached homes in at least four Native villages, including Tununak and Kipnuk, state emergency managers said earlier Wednesday.

Peak water levels arrived in Nome Wednesday night, with flooding reported in low-lying areas. There were no new reports of substantial damage or major injuries, the National Weather Service said.

"It's barely beginning to wind down along the coast," Stephen Kearney, a meteorologist for the Weather Service in Fairbanks, said late Wednesday. "The sea level will remain steady into the early morning hours and then start to come down tomorrow morning," he told the Anchorage Daily News.

Flooding was reported in Point Hope, where the water came within 10 feet of the airport runway, but the community still had power, Kearney said.

The weather service said "a potent upper level disturbance" rotating around the Bering Sea storm is expected to bring 3 to 8 inches of snowfall to the Anchorage area by Thursday afternoon. The service issued a winter weather advisory for Anchorage in effect until noon Thursday.

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