EPA Pulled Flood Grant Months Before Storm Hit Alaska

Homes were washed away in Kipnuk
Posted Oct 15, 2025 1:35 PM CDT
EPA Pulled Flood Grant Months Before Storm Hit Alaska
In this photo provided by the US Coast Guard, Kipnuk, Alaska, is hit by coastal flooding, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.   (U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

On Sunday, a devastating flood tore through the Alaska village of Kipnuk; five months prior, federal funding meant to help the village withstand disasters was abruptly cut. The Environmental Protection Agency had earmarked $20 million for riverbank stabilization—a project designed to shield the largely Alaska Native community from worsening floods and erosion. But in May, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin revoked the grant, citing a new push to eliminate what he called "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants," the New York Times reports. The move followed a Trump executive order scrapping federal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as environmental justice programs.

Kipnuk sits on thawing permafrost near the Bering Sea, where climate change has made storms more intense and flooding more frequent. The weekend's flooding, triggered by what remained of Typhoon Halong, tore homes off their foundations and left residents stranded, with one dead and two missing in neighboring Kwigillingok. The Coast Guard rescued dozens of people whose homes were swept out to sea. The village, with no local taxes and little infrastructure, relies almost entirely on grants for basic needs. With that funding canceled, the planned river stabilization never got underway. Before the grant was rescinded, village leaders bought a bulldozer and made plans to build a rock wall that would stop homes from falling into a river, Politico reports.

While officials can't say for sure that the grant would have averted this disaster, the flooding spotlights what's at stake for Arctic communities caught between climate risks and shifting federal priorities. Alaska's senators, both Republicans, have urged the administration to protect funding for vulnerable villages. "This administration prioritizes lowering costs—but minimizing the impacts of a disaster like this before it occurs is far cheaper than rebuilding afterward, to say nothing of the toll these events take on people's lives," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a statement. "Whether you call it climate change or 'once-in-a-generation' extreme weather, no community in the wealthiest country on earth should lack the basic infrastructure needed to keep its people safe."

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With the river getting closer by around 12 feet a year, Kipnuk, a village of around 970 people, faces an uncertain future, Politico reports. "They're on their homelands," says Sheryl Musgrove at the Alaska Institute for Justice. "They want to stay there but they may have no choice—if they don't get funding to protect themselves from erosion—but to potentially relocate. And the problem is there's no funding available to relocate, either." The storm has displaced around 1,500 people in the region," the AP reports. "It's catastrophic in Kipnuk. Let's not paint any other picture," Mark Roberts, incident commander with the state emergency management division, said Tuesday. "We are doing everything we can to continue to support that community, but it is as bad as you can think."

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