Over 30 people were rescued and at least three remained unaccounted for Sunday after the remnants of a typhoon battered Alaska, while a powerful Nor'easter brought heavy rain and strong winds to the East Coast.
The Alaska Office of Emergency Management said Sunday evening that at least eight homes were pushed off their foundations.
Officials had said over 20 people were unaccounted for in the village of Kwigillingok because of flooding and high winds from the remnants of Typhoon Halong. That number dropped to three by later in the evening.
Search and rescue crews rescued at least 18 people in Kwigillingok on Sunday and at least 16 people in the community of Kipnuk, in the state’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said.
Alaska State Troopers were part of a multiagency search-and-rescue operation in Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, both of which have no roadways and are isolated from larger cities, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said.
"The Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and U.S. Coast Guard have launched rescue aircraft to Kipnuk and Kwigillingok to locate and rescue missing or displaced people," the Public Safety Department said in a news release Sunday evening.
A disaster declaration was expanded Sunday to include the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement, noting that Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were "hard hit."
"Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm," he said. "Help is on the way."
Meanwhile, a powerful storm that has brought strong wind and heavy rain to the East Coast this weekend continued to keep its residents on high alert.
Heavy rain pounded an area from the Carolinas to Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon, bringing reports of coastal flooding and hundreds of flight delays.
The Nor'easter — which already affected a large chunk of the East Coast, including Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey — extended into the New York area Sunday and expanded into Boston and southern New England by the afternoon.
Wind gusts peaked at around 56 mph across the mid-Atlantic coast, with rainfall totals ranging from 1 to 5 inches. Georgetown, South Carolina, recorded the highest report, with over 10 inches of rain reported since the start of the weekend.
Video circulating on social media showed water rising Sunday in near coastal homes in Rodanthe, North Carolina, in the Outer Banks.
In Columbus County, North Carolina, first responders conducted “about 10 or 12 rescues” Sunday evening as rain battered the area.
Columbus County Sheriff Bill Rogers warned about cars left in the roadways due to floods.
“If you’ll commute in the morning, please be safe and please go home and stay off the road. And be careful in the morning, because the water is rising,” Rogers said in a video posted to Facebook.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency that took effect Saturday night in anticipation of the storm’s inclement conditions, including major coastal flooding, strong wind and 1 to 3 inches of rain.
Coastal flooding was reported across parts of New Jersey and Delaware during high tide earlier Sunday afternoon.
