November 15, 2011
By: Bruce Berry
Many residents in Alaska may be contacting their home insurance providers after a storm carrying hurricane-force winds swept across the western edge of the state.
Officials reported roof damage to a number of buildings across several communities in the state, along with significant beach erosion and roads left underwater.
In Nome, Alaska - the largest city close to the storm - the tide at the height of the storm was 10 feet above normal. Flooding was prevalent in many coastal towns and villages. The Associated Press says damage reports have come in from more than three dozen communities.
Meteorologists told the Anchorage Daily News that it may be the strongest storm to hit the state in decades. Jeff Osiensky, the National Weather Service's regional warning coordinator, told the paper it was most closely comparable to a Category 3 hurricane. Gusts were measured at 85 miles per hour in one location.
"It went particularly far north, for such a strong storm, so the impacts were much larger than what we would typically see up here in Alaska," he said.
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