The Aleutian Island town of Adak went dark on Oct. 3 when the city’s main generator suffered what Mayor Kathy McCune called a “catastrophic failure.” The city declared a local emergency on Oct. 10.
Residents said food is starting to rot in freezers, and many aren’t able to heat their homes.
Adak’s city council stated in a local resolution that the lack of electric power is a threat to public health and safety, affecting heating, water supply, sewer and communication systems. The council is asking state officials to step in, saying the emergency is “beyond the timely and effective response and recovery capability of local resources.”
TDX Adak Generating supplies power to Adak and is shipping a replacement generator on a barge that’s currently in the Bering Sea. Still, it’s not scheduled to arrive until Nov. 3 – weather dependent.
In the meantime, TDX has commandeered a large generator from a closed fish processing plant to provide temporary power to a part of the city, like the school building, which houses the clinic and city offices.
But some residents remain without power.
“We're getting by right now,” said longtime resident Steven Carroll, who has been using his own diesel generator to power his home. “But I don’t know how long we can get by.”
Carroll said his generator has enough power to keep everything running in his house, but not all locals are in the same situation, like his neighbor, whose generator failed.
“He can’t cook, he can’t take a bath, he can’t wash, he can't do anything,” Carroll said. “So he brought his crock pot over.”
Carroll said the community is helping each other out during these times, like sharing meals.
“I'm cooking burritos and tacos for like three different families tonight, because I have electricity," Carrol said.
The island’s health center distributed headlamps to community members, and Aleut Ventures, a subsidiary of the regional native corporation Aleut Corporations, is helping cover some fuel costs for residents and essential businesses running their own generators.
Mayor McCune said the CEO of Eastern Aleutian Tribes, a non-profit running the local health center, has secured two large 75,000-kilowatt generators and initially sought military transport to deliver them to the island. However, she said the state has not approved military aircraft use “since TDX is making steady progress.”
Instead, the generators may be shipped via Alaska Airlines on a cargo flight scheduled for Saturday. In the meantime, the community of 33 people continues holding regular meetings to coordinate response efforts and keep residents informed.
