Around 15 folks live in Elfin Cove, a small community on the northern end of Chichagof Island. Mary Jo Lord-Wild is one of them.
“I’m in my 53rd year here, and had never seen an event like this before,” Lord-Wild told KCAW in an interview on Monday.
She said rain and wind picked up around 10:30 Monday morning (9-22-25).
“So we were still doing some stuff on the beach, just some fall chores, but It rapidly became more than you could stand up in,” Lord-Wild said. “You could hear the rocks coming down off the hillside across the bay, and see multiple trees coming down.”
Lord-Wild said she saw one slide from their house, at the head of the bay, that took out the power line. She said one man was hit by debris and knocked off a dock, and managed to get himself out of the water safely. Everyone in the community has been accounted for and no injuries have been reported, but several homes and a cafe were damaged.
“Luckily, it was daylight. It would have been worse in the dark, because then you can’t see what’s going on. Six people kind of evacuated from the head of the bay here, because there was the rocks coming down, the trees coming down.
“There’s trees across the boardwalks and the trails that we can’t even see yet, haven’t even ascertained what what happened there yet,” she continued.
The building that houses KCAW’s transmitter equipment was also impacted, cutting out the community’s radio service for the time being.
Lord-Wild expects the power will be out for a long time, but for now the community is taking care of each other.
“This is a little bigger event than we’re usually prepared for, but we’re pretty resilient, and eventually people are going to need help,” she said. “But in the meantime, you know, things are stabilized enough that people will be warm, dry and fed until we can fully ascertain the damage and what the next steps are.”
Lord-Wild said some folks are not returning to their homes until further assessment can be done on the buildings and nearby land. Rain is expected in Elfin Cove for the rest of this week.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated.
