A massive airlift is underway in Western Alaska as Alaska National Guard planes and helicopters take people from villages devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong .

On Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of people from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok boarded military transport planes headed for Anchorage, leaving their homes, belongings and communities behind.

Now, they’re not sure when or if they’ll be able to return.

Sitting on a green military cot at an Alaska Army National Guard hangar in Bethel, Luke Amik Jr. mourned his village.

“Kipnuk is our hometown, and we’ve been living there all our life. Everything is lost now,” he said. “All the memories … all the houses are gone.”

Amik was waiting for his turn to board a massive C-17 military transport plane ferrying survivors to shelter

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