Grant funding will allow the Native Village of Newtok, Alaska, to acquire 36 homes and provide families with the funds to move to Mertarvik, a safer location approximately nine miles across the Ninglick River from Newtok. Newtok, located on the Ninglick River, has faced progressive coastal erosion from ocean storms and degrading permafrost that has threatened homes and critical infrastructure.
The community currently faces a rate of erosion of approximately 70 feet per year. This was exacerbated by Typhoon Merbok in September 2022, which left less than 30 feet between the river and the Newtok School, the community’s only emergency shelter. Studies have concluded that the only solution is to move the entire village to a new site.
The funding was awarded as part of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which provides funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments so they can develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a way that reduces, or mitigates, future disaster losses in their communities. The subgrant will be managed by Newtok Village Council in partnership with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The Native Village of Newtok was also recently selected to receive $25 million to support their relocation efforts as part of the Voluntary Community-Driven Relocation program, an effort led by the Department of the Interior in partnership with FEMA, the Denali Commission, and other federal agencies.