It wasn't in the budget, but Alaska Works Partnership managed to put together a construction workshop for Western Alaska disaster evacuees, who hope to use their new skills to rebuild after Typhoon Halong.
Reggie Paul of Kipnuk holds a frame that he helped to build during an Alaska Works Partnership construction workshop in Mountain View. For several southwest Alaska communities, it will take years to replace what was lost in one night of hurricane force winds and floods, unleashed from the remnants of Typhoon Halong.
Some may never rebuild completely. How and where to begin is a question that seven trainees tackled at a construction workshop offered by the Alaska Works Partnership, a nonprofit agency funded mostly by the state.Alaska Works Partnership offered a one-week construction course at their headquarters in Mountain View for storm evacuees. Most of the apprentices were from Kipnuk, one of the hardest hit communities. They evacuated to Anchorage after the storm struck the Western Alaska coast on Oct. 9. "They just lost their homes," said Tiffany Caudle, the training coordinator for Alaska Works Partnership."They lost everything.""I do think this is really helping them stay positive and stay hopeful," she said.The men were all volunteers, who signed up for 40-hours of training on how to frame a house.Devon Mann, 19, works on building a house frame. His house was destroyed in a flood that picked it up and carried it more than five miles. They started on Oct. 20 at the program's headquarters in Mountain View. They met in a big garage, empty except for a stack of boards, nails and tools. But soon, the constant clang of hammers and the buzz of electric saws filled the room with energy. "This is the door, and this one's going to be the window," said Devon Mann, as he laid out the boards for his house frame.Trauma is still fresh Devon, who is 19, looked sharp in his brand new hoodie. It was given to him after military planes airlifted him and almost his entire community of Kipnuk to Anchorage. Devon arrived with only the clothing he had on, but after a five-mile ride in a floating house, he still carried the baggage of trauma.Devon Mann /Most of Devon's family made it to the school, but he and his 16-year-old year old brother stayed behind to salvage valuables that were floating away. Suddenly the water came up and trapped them in their house. As the surge carried it off, the power went out and in the darkness, they jammed every bit of bedding, towels and clothing they could find against the wall in a desperate attempt to block the flow. They bailed the water out with buckets, but it rose up to their knees. "I thought something bad was going to happen to the house, like break apart. I thought that would be it for us," said Devon, who almost gave up."But I had hope. I had hope.""Leveling, framing, stuff we're doing here in the training – it's useful in the village," he said. Devon and the other trainees still don't know whether Kipnuk will be rebuilt or eventually moved to higher ground, but they want to be prepared to help whatever the future brings.Devon Mann, 19, evacuated from Kipnuk with only the clothes he had on. He and his mother are staying at a hotel in Anchorage, while the rest of his family is staying with relatives in Kongiginak.William Andrew, who has been an instructor at Alaska Works Partnership for almost 20 years, is impressed with Devon and the rest of his group. He calls them"naturals," because they have been quick to catch on. "From what they went through, I'll be honest with you, their attitudes are awesome," Andrew said."They're wanting to learn. They're being great." As Andrew walked around the room, he peppered his students with questions about their work — quick to point out small mistakes that might later lead to bigger problems. “I can’t stress it enough: Use your wrist, use your wrist,” he reminded them, as he waved a hammer to warn them about putting stress on their arm muscles.Alaska Works Partnership hopes these Kipnuk apprentices will ultimately learn more than to build house frames but also build careers. Andrew knows it'll take more than one workshop to teach his Kipnuk apprentices how to rebuild their village, but he hopes it will give them a good foundation to learn more. "The class has been going so great, that I think they're going to be telling all of their neighbors and all of their friends," he said."I think there's going to be a lot more demand for training."Alaska Works Partnership is now in search of more funding to offer more classes for the disaster evacuees. The agency hopes it can attract some new partners, who will recognize that this group needs the help at a critical time.Like his students, Andrew is Yup'ik and comes from a small village. He's originally from New Stuyahok in Bristol Bay and knows, from his own experience, that far too many village construction jobs go to outside contractors, who hire very few locals. But Andrew hopes this time will be different.Copyright 2025 KNBA
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