The Typhoon in Alaska that no one is talking about

Flood waters recede in Kipnuk on Monday October 13, 2025, but the storm damage is extensive (Photo courtesy of Jacqui Lang)

Until this week, only twice in recorded history has a typhoon or post-tropical cyclone with hurricane force winds made landfall in Alaska.

Both of those systems were more than 60 years ago.

Typhoon Halong broke that no-cyclone streak this week.

Videos from Alaska showing Typhoon Halong’s immense surge and inland flooding are shocking, to say the least.

At least two people have been killed and several more are still missing. About 50 people were rescued from the flooding, and thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

The storm’s strength has already been attributed to the unusually high sea surface temperatures in the area, which follows one of the hottest summers ever recorded for the state.

A week ago, Typhoon Halong reached major-hurricane strength with sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, or Category 4 hurricane strength, near the coast of Japan. The storm maintained organization as it headed toward Alaska.

Neither the National Hurricane Center nor the University of Miami Global Tropical Cyclone Monitor track storms that far north, though it’s worth noting that with the shutdown of the federal government, the NHC isn’t updating its database, either.

Some of the areas impacted by Typhoon Halong are considered part of the Polar climate zone.

Yet, the conversation about this rarity and the more-active-than-usual Pacific Basin this year are all but non-existent, even as thousands have been forced to flee their homes in Alaska.

The storm barely registered with the national media, who is more concerned with a slew of racist and rapey texts from Republican leaders leaked to the media, of which absolutely no one was shocked to see.

As I posted earlier this week, the Trump administration cut vital funding for Indigenous communities at the forefront of climate change impacts. One of those cancelled flood protection grants allocated $20 million for the very Alaska communities impacted by Typhoon Halong to study coastal flooding issues caused by climate change.