Hundreds of Red Cross disaster workers deploying to lend a hand to those affected
WASHINGTON, D.C. October 17, 2025 — The American Red Cross is helping in Alaska as officials stage one of the largest airlifts in the state’s recent history, evacuating entire villages that were left in ruins last weekend by Typhoon Halong.
Homes were pushed off their foundations and, in some cases, swept entirely out to sea. Many residences will not be able to be lived in again, even with emergency repairs. The typhoon also damaged critical infrastructure including roads, communication lines and air and seaport facilities.
Evacuees from the villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok and others are being flown by helicopter to Bethel, where Red Cross disaster workers register them for their second flight to Anchorage, nearly 500 miles away. Working with state, tribal, local officials and partners, Red Cross disaster teams are supporting the evacuees in Anchorage, where they will find a safe place to stay, food, emergency relief supplies, emotional support and health services. Air evacuations are expected to continue for several days.
“2,000 Americans who had homes and a community this time last week have literally nothing left tonight but the clothes on their back and find themselves far from anything familiar with no resources and no certainty about what lies ahead,” said Brad Kieserman, vice president, Disaster Operations & Logistics for the Red Cross. “Imagine if that was you, or your family. That's why we have a Red Cross and that's why the Red Cross is there: to make sure that no one is ever the least, the last, or the lost.”
FLYING HELP IN TO OTHER VILLAGES As winter approaches, there are other villages in the region where residents have no power or running water, food they had stored for the winter now ruined and stoves used to heat their homes damaged. That damage could make the winter difficult in remote communities where people store food from hunting and fishing to help make it through the season. Based out of Bethel, the Red Cross is deploying disaster workers to these villages by boat and plane to set up shelters and begin the process of delivering relief supplies, especially non-traditional goods, to help families who lost their supplies of food for the winter.
The response presents challenges unique to Alaska’s geography and environment and could last for several months with access cut off to some villages and others left uninhabitable as Alaska’s winter sets in. Some impacted areas are accessible only by air or sea and recovery efforts will become challenging as freezing temperatures cover the region and access by sea ends due to ice.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Thousands of people in Alaska have lost everything and will be unable to return home and begin their recovery while winter keeps them out of their villages for the next several months. People are depending on the Red Cross for help, and we need your support. Help people affected by disasters big and small — whenever and wherever they occur across the country — by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief at redcross.org or by calling 1- 800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
You can also choose to donate by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster.
Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Bank of America; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Costco Wholesale; Dollar General; Lowe's; State Farm
ADGP $1M Members: Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Caterpillar Foundation; CMA CGM Foundation; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Honda; Lilly Endowment Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo Foundation
ADGP $500k Members: ALDI; Altria Group; Aon; Baxter International Foundation; Boeing; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Edison International Foundation; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace Foundation; General Motors; Google.org; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Mastercard; Microsoft; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Northrop Grumman Foundation; NTT Data; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Southeastern Grocers and the SEG Gives Foundation; Stryker; Suburban Propane; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Wingstop Restaurants; Yum! Brands; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Aflac; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Family Insurance; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco and Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; DENSO North America Foundation; DHL Supply Chain; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Dollar Tree; Duke Energy; Elevance Health Foundation; Eli Lilly and Company Foundation; Equitable ; Erie Insurance; Fastenal; Grainger; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation ; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo ; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Martin Marietta; Masco Corporation; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Mutual of Omaha Foundation; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Nike Foundation; Norfolk Southern; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis US Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; Oxy; Pacific Life Foundation; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephens; Tennant Company; Toyota Tsusho America, Inc.; Uber; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; Zurich
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.