Three Haines residents volunteered to lend a hand to the village of Golovin near Nome, in western Alaska. The community of around 175 people, was badly affected by the powerful remnants of Typhoon Merbok. Alain d’Epremesnil talked with Sylvia Heinz about her experience.
On the 17th of September disaster hit the village of Golovin. A typhoon had traveled right over waters that were, for the area, the warmest on record going back 100 years. Fifty foot waves built up, and the resultant storm surge hit over a thousand miles of western Alaska coast.
“ Homes floated 200 feet from their foundations”
About fifty communities were affected, and Team Rubicon, an relief organization that first made contact with Haines during the 2020 landslide, dispatched residents Sylvia Heinz, Larysa Murray and Brian Rougeux to Golovin to assess the damage and assist with the clean up.
“We were mucking out wet blown out insulation, it was pretty dirty work,”
70% of the buildings were heavily damaged, and a quarter of the population was displaced.
Despite the destruction, the team found beauty in the resilience and kindness of the community
“People were just working hard to help their neighbors, help each other, they were so welcoming, they fed us beluga, bearded seal. And they lost all their food, lost all their freezers, but the little bit that they had left, they were still wanting to share.”
Anyone is welcome to volunteer with Team Rubicon.
