Alaska Fellow chronicles past impactful extreme events

The frequency and intensity of wildfires, coastal storms, flooding, landslides, avalanches and other extreme events are increasing in Alaska. An understanding of past events helps people plan for the future, but historical records of extreme events are often incomplete and very difficult to locate. Partnering with the Alaska Fellows, ACCAP worked with recent graduate Caroline Erickson to compile a library of historical weather and climate events that significantly impacted Alaskans. 

Erickson combed newspapers, disaster declarations, agency briefings and other sources to create a suite of over a dozen outreach products. Each visually appealing handout clearly communicates the timeline and physical details of the event and its associated impacts. Erickson spent the most time on pre-internet era extreme events — though she still created a two-pager for the high-profile 2022 typhoon Merbok. For example, Rick Thoman, who championed the project, explained that even though an entire community was relocated, people are less likely to remember and find information about the 1994 Allakaket flood than an incident today.

Thoman and Erickson hope that communities, policymakers, researchers and others will find the resources helpful when making decisions about the future. The team hosted a well received webinar about the resource on June 11, 2024. Of the 88 attendees, over 20 were from rural communities or Alaska Native serving organizations. Kendra Zamzow from Chickaloon Native Village attended and said that she had recently undergone the process of pulling information about past extreme events while writing a Hazard Mitigation Plan for the Sutton to Chickaloon area. She commented on the federal databases noted by ACCAP, pointing out which resources were helpful and those that covered too large of regions for local planning, ending with, “I’m glad you are doing this work!”

Erickson participated as an Alaska Fellow, a fall-to-spring postgraduate fellowship program that pairs talented young people with strong communities and professional mentors. Hosting a fellow brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the ACCAP team. The fellowship gave Erickson a unique opportunity to learn from ACCAP’s seasoned climate scientists while conducting research and outreach that makes a difference for people impacted by climate change.