Weekend storm devastated two villages and displaced more than 1,500 people in the south-western part of the state

Authorities in Alaska are staging a major evacuation operation, relocating hundreds of people in one of the “most significant” airlifts in the state’s history, after a storm decimated two villages along the south-west coast over the weekend.

More than 1,500 people were displaced after the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit remote communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, battering the area with fierce winds, rain and record-breaking storm surge that caused some homes to float off their foundations.