[EN VIDÉO] Homes swept away, 3m waves, flooding: Alaska battered by storm of rare power

A storm of rare strength is battering western Alaska, causing massive waves and flooding to wash away homes, the US Weather Service (NWS) said Saturday.

“Remnants of Hurricane Merbok to hit western Alaska […] Weekend with extreme surf, gale force winds, coastal erosion and heavy rain,” they tweeted.

“The floods will only get worse,” they added.

“This is the strongest storm we’ve seen in the Bering Sea in 50 years and it’s early autumn,” AFP climate scientist Rick Thomann told AFP. University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In the coastal village of Kolovin, “water is around the school, houses are flooded, at least two are floating,” described municipal services in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city.

Pictures posted on social media show extensive damage.

The NWS described ‘very angry seas’ with 3.3 meter waves along the coastline around Nome.

According to the NWS, winds of 145 km/h were reported, with others forecast to be even stronger.

A flood warning will remain in effect for southern coastal areas until 10pm on Saturday (6am Sunday GMT and 8.30am Sunday for stormy northern areas), the Met Services said on Facebook.