ANCHORAGE (BP) — Alaska Baptist Disaster Relief is “in full deployment mode” following devastating coastal flooding that has killed at least one and threatens to permanently displace entire villages.

Disaster Relief (DR) ministry is being directed at evacuees now at two facilities in the Anchorage area, Alaska Baptist Resource Network President Bruce Rowell told Baptist Press (BP).

“Our DR teams at this time are primarily engaging in hands-on ministry through providing and operating shower trailers, laundry trailers and personal contact,” said Rowell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Palmer. “While our DR teams are meeting these physical needs, our DR chaplains are engaging persons evangelistically and with encouragement” through prayer, conversations and other means.

At least 49 villages covering an area larger than Colorado report significant damage, said a news release. A shower and laundry unit has been set up for several hundred evacuees at Egan Center in Anchorage, with calls for additional chaplains and shower and laundry attendants.

Remnants of Typhoon Halong began impacting the state’s western coast on Oct. 12, with the storm surge continuing throughout the week. Villages like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were particularly hard-hit and saw mass evacuations.

Freezers full of moose, halibut, beluga whale, emperor goose and other native foods were ruined or just floated away along with homes. Entire graveyards washed up, with coffins breaking open near an airport runway. The smell of raw sewage and fuel is constant.

“The number of evacuees is increasing, and my understanding is that (the Anchorage response) is adjusting to this,” Rowell said. “The affected area is only accessible by air travel and barge shipments, and some of the villages are almost totally destroyed.”

The flood’s timing makes it particularly destructive.

“We are in a seasonal time when water access will shut down soon as the ocean begins to freeze up for winter,” he said. “It is my understanding that this is already beginning, so access will soon be limited to air transportation and shipping.” 

State Disaster Relief Director Gary Bearce said he was “deeply grateful” for the response from numerous state conventions volunteering to help.

“We’re only going to be able to put teams into four villages that have extensive damage,” said Bearce, adding that he would need to know in advance to arrange housing. “And we think we’re only going to have a three-week window at the most.”

A letter to President Trump from a delegation of U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Nick Begich spoke to the level of the damage.

“While first responders, tribal and local governments, and State emergency management personnel have acted swiftly and effectively, the scale of this disaster surpasses the State’s ability and capacity to respond without federal support,” they wrote.

Send Relief has released funds to the area, said Crisis Response Director Coy Webb.

“That is in coordination with our Disaster Relief partners as we try to work with some challenging logistics,” he told BP. “That includes getting flood recovery teams to Anchorage and then on bush planes to the villages, but my understanding is there may only be two or three weeks before the freeze sets in, then we won’t be able to until spring.

“We ask Southern Baptists to continue to pray. These areas are remote. A large number of homes have been destroyed. Also pray for Disaster Relief personnel on the ground as they deal with the logistics. Our ultimate prayer, of course, is for those affected to experience the hope found in Christ.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.)