News at 6 - October 29, 2025

Now at six, the wind is whipping. Look at that. The snow is falling. This is video from moments ago showing Upper Huffman Trail, the Anchorage Hillside, see an extreme wind as a strong storm moves in from the south. Hundreds of people without power from Anchorage to the Matsu and from Kenai to Homer. Chief meteorologist, Melissa, Melissa, has been tracking the storm all week, first letting us know about the impacts on Monday. And Melissa, we see snow there on the hillside, but it's a different story here in town. Yeah, some area is seeing completely dry conditions at this hour. Other seeing rain. It really depends on the elevation that you are at because temperatures are warming quickly with this storm. Here's a look at some of those peak wind gust that we've seen today. 52 miles per hour in Kenyme. Again, hundreds of people without power down the Stirling Highway, 71 miles per hour out at Portage Glacier. But in Anchorage, we are still seeing these winds increasing. Now moving into places like Huffman and New Seward out closer to the port we're with. are now over 30 miles per hour. But up closer to flat top, those higher elevations, 89 miles per hour, 91 to rendezvous peak. And then even as you head into the lower elevations, we're seeing wind gusts between 60 and 70 miles per hour here this evening. Temperatures are warming with this storm. Mid-40s in midtown, east side sitting at 42 at the Camp Creek Science Center, 44 out on Muldoon. So that is the reason that this is mostly a rain event for us. But look at the footprint of this storm. snow from Bristol Bay into the YK Delta, clouds extending to the interior and rain and wind also on the way for southeast. But again, the most extreme wind and rain is currently in south central. And look at the amount of lightning that this storm is producing, spreading from just north of Kodiak all the way into Cordova. That snow rain line, again, is quickly changing as that warmer air moves in. Summit Lake, seeing some raindrops coming down on top of snow, still blowing snow on the glen highway through the mountainouska valley. But in town, you see more green because of that rain and those warmer temperatures. This storm sticks with us through the night. I'll have a closer look at those impacts here in a few minutes. Check back in a little bit. Thanks, Melissa. Happening now, Alaska Airlines is dealing with another global outage. The problem has impacted many of its services, also the website today. Many Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines passengers have been unable to check in online. If that's you, your urge to talk to an agent at the airport to get a boarding pass. Both airlines say they're working on the situation and hope to get everything back to normal as soon as possible. Some systems have been restored, but we're told Microsoft still has the few issues to resolve. And now to our continued coverage of former Typhoon Hulong and the impacts, survivors who are homeowners, they can now apply for disaster. her loans up to $500,000. The Trump administration's small business administrator, Kelly Loeffler, made the announcement with Governor Mike Dunleavy in Anchorage this morning. She says these loans do not accrue interest or need to be paid for one year. While values will vary, businesses and nonprofits are able to apply for up to $2 million loans. Additionally, the SBA is also allowing personal property from subsistence camps for things like snow machines and boats. Those are not usually eligible.

It was important for me to be here. It's important for the president that the administration was here. And we're going to continue to advocate for relief of this crisis, this tragedy from Typhoon Hulong, and make sure that we recover strong together. On the deadline to apply for physical damage loans, December 22nd, if you'd like more information on the loans and the governor's aspirations to have villages return safely in two weeks. We have that live on our website and our mobile app. And many of you have seen the video of a man striking our camera in downtown Anchorage while one of our reporters was interviewing a couple who fled the flooding from the former Typhoon Hulang. And it begs the question, is Anchorage safe for people who have had to evacuate here? Investigative reporter Rebecca Palsha has stats. Rebecca. Well, John and Augusta, the latest FBI numbers show that Alaska's crime rate in 2023 was the six highest in the country. And while across the country, property crime trends are down, not in Anchorage. Violent property crimes have increased almost 8% over last year. That's according to the Anchorage Police Department. Statewide, according to a separate report from the FBI, the rate of violent crimes in Alaska tends to be higher than the national rate. Chief think they're doing enough to help people. Well, he told me he thinks we're taking a lot of measures, not just the police department, but the city itself, as well as a whole lot of contractors. And he said that Anchorage will make it as safe as we can right now. Rebecca, Paulsha, thank you very much. Our investigative team does continue following the rebuild and the recovery efforts after Hulong. If you have a tip for us, you can email us to Investigates at KTU.com. The Alaska Department of Health is providing services to evacuated Alaskans in Anchorage. The Division of Public Assistance Team is available to help with benefits needs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center all week. If you need help with vital records, you can access those at the Alaska Airlines Center from 10 a.m. to 2 on Thursday. And the continued government shutdown. It's taken its toll on many people, including in native communities. In a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C. today, Alaska Federation of Natives President Ben Mallet testified that many people in rural Alaska will have to make some tough decisions about whether to eat or heat their homes if this shutdown continues. I cannot highlight enough. This is how food security is critical for this right now. About to end on Friday. We are looking at the ability for our communities to decide between heating and fuel. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who chairs that Senate committee, agreed the impacts could be widely felt in the state. She says 66,000 Alaskans currently receive SNAP benefits. Well, the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a new air quality plan for the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The plan removes a requirement for Fairbanks property owners to get an energy rating report. The change is aimed at changing air quality in Fairbanks and outer regions of the interior. The areas often drop in air quality due to smoke from wood, burning stoves, getting trapped by very cold air. It's described as a bubble.

And happening now, our crews are at a community meeting at Betty Davis East Anchorage High School. That's just getting underway. And it's the first of several events this week to give feedback about the possible closure of Fire Lake Elementary in Eagle River and Lake Otis Elementary in Anchorage. The proposed plan would allow charter schools to run out of the vacant buildings next school year. Today's public meeting at East will run until 8 o'clock, Chugiac High, hosting one tomorrow night at 6, and a third public meeting will take place at the Anchorage School District Education Center Saturday at noon. And we will be discussing what was talked about in tonight's meeting coming up later on the late edition. So recovery efforts continue after the devastating. Former Typhoon Hulong and many people and organizations are stepping up to help. That includes military-related personnel, and it doesn't just mean those who are on active duty. Our Matt Mertes highlights a veteran-run group helping out in tonight's Inside the Bill Gates. Team Rubicon is a veteran-run aid organization helping to bring relief to the victims of former Typhoon Halang in Alaska. Team Rubicon is a veteran-led volunteer organization active in disaster response. We got started in 2010 after the Haiti earthquake. When did Team Rubicon begin relief efforts in Western Alaska? Almost immediately. The way Team Rubicon works because we're a local organization. A disaster hits in our local gray shirts. That's what we call our volunteers. We're the gray shirt, right? Our local gray shirts get busy. Team Rubicon is currently seeking donations of everyday items, toiletries, and clothes to distribute to those who have lost so much. We're really needing mattresses, mattress pads, because... They're moving out of the shelters, going into people's homes, staying in hotels. A lot of people on the floor, right? They're on cops. Old backs. The cot isn't very comfortable, so having a mattress or a mattress pad, both of those are very necessary. Sleeping bags, pillows, luggage. Luggage is a big one, including duffel bags, just any kind of luggage. It would be very easy. One of their biggest hurdles is gathering supplies that they can process properly with the limited facilities available. We ask for only new items, please. We cannot accept these donations at this time. We just don't have the capacity to intake, sort. possibly clean and then distribute those items. That's just not something we're set up to handle right now. Logistics may be limiting their capacity to accept certain donations. However, Team Rubicon is extremely grateful for the support and outpouring of care from the Alaskan people. Alaska is generous and we're redistributing that generosity of break next year. Everything there will be empty soon. It'll be refilled by the generosity of Alaska. Veterans helping Alaskans. and Alaskans helping each other. That is Team Rubicon. Matt Murdis, Alaska's News Source. Thanks for listening. Click subscribe so you can get the latest podcast from Alaska's News Source automatically. And stay up to date with breaking news and in-depth reporting available for free 24-7 with the Alaska's News Source app.