The following
is a coastal flood warning
issued by the National
Weather Service.
For the southern
Seward Peninsula coast
including Nome.
- Numerous roads
will be closed.
Low-lying property including
homes, businesses,
the airport and other
critical infrastructure will
be inundated.
We've got a big under due
storm coming in.
An 11-17 foot storm surge.
I don't know if we're
gonna make it.
Right now, it looks like
an absolute warzone.
If my boat breaks off,
it'll start wiping
out buildings.
Well, my tail boat
has cut loose.
This is coming over
the sea wall.
That's 20 feet.
-Hey, watch out!
- is flying off
the building.
It'll be a wipeout
for this town.
Beautiful sunny day, today.
It's the calm before
the storm.
Once this storm hits,
we don't want to be
trying to secure our boats
in the storm and put
people's lives at risk.
We're gonna get our stuff,
get it secured, get everything
where we want it to be.
We're getting
prepped to protect
everything we've worked
so hard to get.
Oh, I'm getting
my crane outta here.
In case it floods.
And, I don't want it getting
hammered with salt water.
Gonna get all the boats
secured and tied together.
This is how we make a living,
we've got to
protect what we've worked
so hard to get.
It's coming.
And, it's gonna come
in with some fury.
They're saying
a 14-foot surge.
On the water.
It's gonna be bad.
This could be bad for Nome.
We should probably
get some lines.
Just for and giggles.
From there to here,
And there to the see ark.
You got spuds
but it's always good
to be tied off.
You never know what
the hell is gonna happen.
How bad it's gonna
really get, so...
Better be overprepared
than underprepared.
Well, we got the Ofer.
Christine Rose, Myrtle.
Touveli and the tugboat.
We got all the boats
secured to the Myrtle.
'Cause it's got big spuds.
Supposed to come up 15-foot.
If it comes up 15-foot,
it's gonna leave
an annihilation of boats
and things in the harbor
but I'm pretty
well protected down here.
The south wind should blow
anybody else that way.
if the spuds come loose,
we've got lines to the dock.
On both sides.
We should be just fine.
So, right now,
we're on the edge of it.
It's coming.
I just got a call from
the harbor master
that I need to move my dredge
because they're trying
to consolidate the space out
here in the harbor.
So...
Yeah, I've got to find
somewhere else
to park my dredge.
Gonna be a fat storm.
It's gonna be a gnarly one.
I just got to go
out and check on the dredge
from time to time.
Because it's gonna
be like a...
I heard, a 70-hour
storm, so...
Within that time frame,
I should check
on it periodically.
The combines are crazy dusty.
Oh, there you go.
It's a good spot to
tie it up to.
Norpack.
See, that's good.
I'll just tie up to
my dad's boat.
Perfect.
Yeah, looks like
it's gonna be alright.
There we go.
Ta-da!
I think that'll work.
Yes, we're just gonna
wait and see.
Come back and check.
So, Friday is just gonna
be terrible.
I might have to evacuate.
They're calling--
They're calling for
evacuation on my street.
Because this-- The whole--
There's gonna be
a bunch of street that they're
gonna close down
due to the flood,
you know what I mean?
And I'm part of that plan.
I'm in the flood zone.
So, yeah.
I might have to
get the hell out of here.
Before I get swamped.
We got some weather coming in.
I can see it coming.
Port side, this is gonna
be a big one.
Gonna be like, 70 knots.
I just bought this other
dredge called The Eldorado.
I want to bring
it in here and tie it up
to the dock.
We've got to get
this job done.
The weather's coming.
You can see storm clouds
back over there.
The birds being
gathered like this,
definitely, they
know something is coming.
Yo, Kevin? You want me to
spin it that way?
Okay, forward.
Well, here we go.
At least, she's moving.
We're on the way
and we're headed over here,
alongside the south wall.
We want it so we can stop
when we get there.
Don't crash into the dock.
I've got a feeling
that this storm that's
coming through,
not everybody's gonna
make the cut.
Storm of 1913 sunk
a bunch of ships out here.
Caused a lot of damage.
Flooded the city.
Chad's gets washed out
at the graveyard.
Were floating up
and down the streets.
It was a bad storm.
Okay, Kevin,
just put it in neutral.
I've just got to get it
in there real close.
And send you up a line.
Okay, little bit more
on the engine.
Thrust left.
And dead slow on the engine.
Come ahead a little bit more.
Thrust left.
Okay, pull us in.
Just take it nice and easy
and don't bang into anything.
Alright Kevin, that's good.
Okay, we're here.
Put down a couple more
lines on this thing.
The water's gonna be
coming in and so...
Nobody knows what's
gonna happen.
We need to go to
the grocery store and soon.
And we need to buy
cases of water.
The water's gonna be
contaminated in this town.
If power goes down,
everything goes down.
- Yeah, yeah.
-The wate-- The sewer,
the water that runs
to your house.
The , you know,
the-- Everything.
So right now, there's a big
storm headed for Nome.
We haven't seen a storm this
size since the '70s.
So, the whole town
is in red alert.
Everybody's talking
between 12-15 foot waves
coming to hit Nome.
It looks like the whole
town's gonna be flooded.
And, we've got to make
sure our boat
doesn't drift away.
Because, you know how
high that wall is?
That we're climbing up
and down the ladder?
The word on the street is that
the ocean's supposed to
rise to that level.
And, my boat is gonna
be floating like,
right on the ridge.
Let's go back to work.
So, I know for a fact,
that we're gonna run
into problems tomorrow.
So, big storms
like this,
I've never been
through one in Nome,
so, we're gonna have
to play it by ear.
And, just be ready to fight.
Fight through the storm.
Worst case scenario,
water level will be
at the tip of this.
Worst case scenario.
Yeah, we're gonna have to
clear everything off
of the top of the deck.
We need to tarp that box,
that dog house.
'Cause that
thing's gonna probably
blow away on us.
Andy?
We need to secure down
that hydraulic hose
to make sure that
it doesn't fall in the water.
-Ready?
- Hold on, hold on.
We're in the middle
of trying to get ready
for this 50-year storm.
Today, we're gonna
take out the skip,
we're gonna get
generators to each house
with 20 gallons of gas.
'Cause, right now,
we just have to make sure
we have the necessities.
We ride out this storm.
We make sure we're on
watch for the boat.
And, we make sure we're all
okay and our neighbors.
Oh, for sure.
Get that generator
at my house.
Right now,
we're going into an extremely
serious situation.
Gonna have to stay up
24 hours a day
because I can't lose
my barge, no matter what.
Uhm, the wind's starting
to pick up now.
The storm's arriving now.
You know, so we have to
do something now.
If we're gonna do it,
we got to act now.
The harbor's gonna be--
Be a disaster.
It's gonna be horrible.
It's within our
power to prevent
serious-- Like sustaining
serious damage to the boat.
We should probably pull it.
Alright.
Well, look,
if we pull the boat out,
we're either gonna
look like the smartest
people in Nome
or the dumbest people in Nome.
But, if it's like
as bad or worse than what
they're predicting
we're gonna look
pretty damn smart.
So, it's a gamble, either way.
Alright, I'm gonna
fire up the outboards.
Jay, can you hold us?
Hold the boat in place.
We might be the only
gold dredge left in town.
Wait, if we're the only
mining operation...
Hey, scary...
It means that we are
the best mining operation.
And the best looking.
Hey, touch
that anchor line.
Watch that
anchor line.
-Need more out.
- Can you let more
anchor line out?
It's a circus show.
Oh, my gosh.
It feels, kind of, odd to have
the boat out of the water.
You know, normally,
we're doing this when
it's snowing outside
at the end of a long
successful season, hopefully.
But, in this case,
you know, we made
the call to pull the boat
before the storm came.
By all accounts, it's gonna be
a historic weather event
paired with a massive
tidal surge.
So, when the weather
calms down,
it's all over again.
We'll pull-- Put her back in
and get back to work.
- Good job everybody.
- Yes.
- Good work.
-Thanks.
Thanks guys.
That was awesome.
Good job, Dan.
That went as smoothly
as it could have gone.
So, now we're out
of the water and we wait.
Waves are growing.
It's gonna get insane.
I've heard like,
maybe the worst tidal surge
that Nome's ever seen.
So, I imagine, by Saturday,
there'll be water coming over
this road right here.
Even these houses on the side,
on the sea wall here
are gonna be in danger.
The storm hasn't even arrived.
This is just,
like, preliminary waves
before the big surge comes in
and the typhoon hits.
But the truck is
already washed
up on the rocks.
Usually there's a sand
beach here.
But that truck is done.
Chuck?
You want to go grab
that trailer?
You're a idiot...
He's a idiot.
Drove to the beach
before the storm.
It got stuck
and didn't get it out.
-Left it down here for what?
He's a idiot.
Trucks in Nome are few
and far between.
They got a cable around
the frame.
They're gonna start
yarding on it.
See if they can
pull it up.
Let's get the away
from this cable though.
-Get back.
That thing will
never run again.
Got the truck out
of the ocean.
Now, we just got
to load it up.
Get it out of this guy's yard.
Throw the cable in the back.
leaving a mess.
Alright, I've seen enough.
God, what
a .
Whoo! It's windy out here.
Yeah, get that tied
down as low as possible.
Because otherwise
that grill will spin.
Alright, let's leave
it like that.
This is gonna
be a hell of a blow.
They're saying this
is gonna be
a 100-year storm.
It's about to blow.
Hurricane force winds.
It's about to be a
17-foot storm surge.
And 17 feet is
gonna put the water
up even with this dam.
It's gonna put it over.
There's a possibility
it just might flood.
Do something with
that damn windmill, Kevin.
When the wind comes
from the south,
it's gonna blow it over on top
with the freaking blower.
So, either lash it off
or take it down and move it.
This looks pretty good
and simple.
I want to get one last
on that side corner.
Over to that barge.
We do not want these
fuel tanks
banging up against
the sea wall.
Can you push off right there?
Yeah.
Push off, get ready to
take up the slack.
That'll do it for now.
Wait until the wind gets here.
This is only--
This is only a kiss.
Wait until you get the tongue.
It's getting windy.
And just heinous outside.
There's like this typhoon.
That is spinning its way up
the Bering Sea.
And, is going to make
a landfall in Nome.
In like, a few hours.
And, I don't think
anyone really knows how
to prepare for it.
Nobody-- I don't
think anyone really knows
what we're in for.
Yeah, you know...
There's not a whole
lot you can do.
They're predicting
that there's gonna be
like, tremendous
property damage.
And that city infrastructure's
probably gonna go down.
Power's gonna go down,
communication's gonna go down.
I mean, I'm hoping it's
not that bad.
Nobody wants a catastrophe.
All we can really do is just
go check on our boats,
make sure they're
tied up right.
Make sure that...
We've done everything
we can do.
We're gonna go
get some extra food
so we have some food
for a few days.
Just ride it out.
I've never dealt
with this feeling, you know,
where it's like...
There's a humbling
force of nature
that's... Uh...
Coming your way.
I was looking at the--
You know, the weather picture
and the peak of the wind gusts
are supposed to happen
for another 12 hours.
And, it's already
getting rowdy.
Which means
it's gonna build like this
for the next 12 hours.
I mean, the water's only
just started going up.
It's gonna keep going up
and keep going up.
This is way worse
than anything that I've seen.
I double checked this morning
on my boat insurance.
Verified insurance
policy is active.
The storm is
approaching Nome, tonight.
Trying to get the whip
of the air. It's...
Something's not right.
Something's about
to happen really big.
We can already
see all the waves.
They're starting to get
bigger from the east.
I can see the water
level is starting to rise too.
So, this is not a good sign.
Everybody's trying to board
up their house
and covering up their windows.
And that, to me,
just seeing that part
is making me more concerned
about my place out here.
Because, I live by the river.
You know, and they're calling
for a 14-foot...
Uhm, 14-foot wave
so, my house is about
like, about 11-feet off
the sea level.
So, there's a big, big chance
that I have to evacuate
my house.
If I see water that up
high, right here,
up to this deck,
then I think it's time
to go, you know?
Right now, I can see
the water already rising.
The way I can tell, because,
look at those dredge
buckets over there.
They're already
halfway in the water.
So, that's very alarming.
And, this is just
the beginning of it,
you know, this is not it.
This is just the pre-game.
You know what I mean?
It's crazy.
So, I'm gonna go ahead
and drive around a little bit.
See if people
are starting to get ready.
Then I'm gonna go
and check on my dredge.
And then, at the same time,
I gotta check on
my dad's dredge, too.
Yeah, let's go check
those things out.
I'm feeling
good about our decision
to pull the boat out.
I mean, it's looking
really bad,
And I'm, kind of, shocked
that nobody else pulled out.
You know?
Nobody else made
a decision to pull out.
I had a chance.
So, I don't regret
pulling the Eroica out.
It was like, a couple
hours of trouble
versus, you know,
losing the boat.
The harbor has never
seen a storm
close to these portions.
And, there's
a lot of just tiny boats
in the harbor
that are sitting ducks
for whatever this storm
surge is gonna bring.
If the really were
to hit the fan,
I don't know that that's
the best place to be.
Just like...
Hundreds of thousands
of tons of metal
just kind of, going crazy
and moving around.
It's like all the popular
kids are over there
and we're, kind of like,
eating lunch by ourselves
over here.
I don't know if that's
where I want to be, honestly.
That's quite
concerning right there.
And this is just
the beginning.
Wow.
That's crazy.
The storm, it's so severe,
like, you can see over here--
You can see the sand
starting to drift all
over the place, you know?
That's-- And, that's just
the beginning of the storm.
It's crazy!
So, right where I'm at,
this is 11-feet
from the water level,
you know.
So, that could
devastate this road.
This road is unpaved.
It's almost like, it's just...
It's just rock, gravel road
and that's about it.
This road could get
devastated by the waves.
The Bering Sea
is officially pissed off.
Wow.
Here we are.
I don't really know
what else to do other than
just check the line
and just think positive.
I'm worried that--
Well, it said that
the airport might flood.
Like, the tarmac could flood.
So, I don't know how long
that would take
the water to go away.
Woah, hey!
We've loved this energy
drawing off
of this nice, floating dock
that the port has.
I think I have
all my t's crossed here.
And really,
I just have to sit tight
and wait for it to kick up
and just see how bad it gets.
It's gotta hold on.
Right now, the storm is
only halfway here.
Before it's over with,
the water will be coming
over this, I guarantee you.
Calling it for 50 knots.
Which, to you lumberly types,
is about 60 miles per hour.
Full gale.
Right at the point
of being hurricane force.
Depending on who you talk to,
an 11-17 foot storm surge.
Which means,
where we are right now
is gonna be under water.
All these buildings over here,
they're most likely...
They're gonna be flooded.
Now, right here,
is the sag.
If you look out there, you can
tell the water's already
a lot higher than it was
just yesterday, for instance.
The water's definitely
rising already.
And, it's gonna rise
quite a bit more
before it closes in.
El captain
sitting in the truck 'cause
he's in his PJs.
We're down
here, we're on standby.
We will be down
here constantly checking
on the operation.
To make sure
everything's fine.
Don't even have to use
the ladder no more.
Wow, our splints
are almost down in the hole.
-Yup.
-Well, that one's in the hole!
Wow, look at how deep
the water's here.
-Jeez boy.
-That's 30-foot tall spuds.
So far, everything
is holding though, huh?
This isn't the south
winds yet.
Wow. When we get
a south wind,
all the winds gonna
be blowing up against
all of our boats
and it's gonna bring the waves
into the harbor.
The winds are gonna
be coming over the jetty
and everything soon.
Doesn't get any worse
than this .
Oh, look at Vern's
boat right now.
It'll be fine, it's just gonna
smack into his other boat.
He's good.
-Oh, woah!
Woah!
Woo hoo hoo!
Yo, it's just coming off.
Oh my God.
If it wasn't for this
floating dock right here,
like, I don't really know...
I mean, I'd be pinned
over on the wall.
And, I would probably be
sitting in my truck all night.
But, the way this looks,
I mean, you got all
these boats tied up to it.
But, it all seems like
it's really anchored
really well.
I mean, there's
probably an anchor going
down to the bottom
right here on this dock.
So, it can't really
swing around.
Yeah, I think,
we're gonna like--
I kinda wanna just go
and get a beer
and then go look
at those waves for a while
and kinda watch it for a while
and I don't think we're gonna
sleep much tonight.
This will all be under-- This
whole patch is going under.
Oh, damn. Oh, my God.
Wow.
That's crazy.
See this water's already
up to my street.
It's almost to
the fire hydrant.
That's crazy, this is so--
This is very concerning.
You know, I'm kinda nervous
of what's gonna happen
in the next few couple hours.
'Cause this is not
the peak yet.
This is-- At 6 AM, that's
the peakiest of the peak.
We're gonna have
to evacuate this street.
You know, we're gonna have
to evacuate our home.
You don't want to be swimming
in the middle of the night.
That's... You know,
that's the last--
That's the worst case
scenario that could happen.
You'd be waking up
to water up to your hips.
Cold as .
But for now, I've got to go
ride around a little bit
and check on the dredge.
What are you doing down
here, you crazy son of a...
Well, we're
doing crazy things.
It's hideous, it's all
underneath water here.
You guys gonna start
to close Belmont?
Do we have to
evacuate pretty soon?
Or do we have to?
I don't know if we're
gonna have to evacuate.
That's up to the city.
It's just up to
the city, huh?
It's not gonna
be very much longer till
this road's out there.
Right, right.
F street's closed out.
They're shutting
down F street.
- Wow.
-So, we'll see, we'll see.
Yeah, I appreciate
the information, man.
You stay safe. I'm gonna go
check on my dredge.
So, make sure everything's
all tied up and good.
Yeah, definitely,
I understand that.
Right on.
-You have a good night.
-Safe drive.
Stay safe.
Good fellas, you know.
We've got great fellas
like that.
You know, keeping--
Making sure
every resident is safe,
you know what I mean?
Now, let's go check
on the dredge.
There's like 15
dredges tied up to that
one floating dock.
And it's anchored
to a big cement block.
And, you know,
the water's gonna rise up.
Pretty substantially.
You know, you just,
kind of, wonder
what's gonna happen
if it's that high.
Could the whole
boardwalk just float off?
Bash into the wall or...
You never know.
So, let's go check it out.
See how it's doing--
Wow, that's crazy.
Never seen it so high.
It's kinda funny.
First, gotta tuck in the hood.
'Cause it's gonna be
windy as .
Woah.
Holy .
Wow, look at that ran--
The lower wall
is already flooded.
Look at that.
Wow...
Checking everybody's cleats
too, you know.
Just making
sure everybody's safe.
Alright, they're nice
and doubled up. That's good.
Go check on the top part.
So far, so good.
I checked all my dredge.
My lines are real tight.
So, I think she's hanging
on pretty good.
You know, I doubled up
my lines, so...
Even though one breaks,
there's another one
backup, so...
Look at this yacht.
It wants to tip over.
Only thing that's keeping
it straight up ahead
is this boardwalk.
This poor thing.
You never know
what's gonna happen in
the next few hours.
This is not it. This is just
the beginning of it.
Just to let you know.
The high tide's in
the morning.
6 AM is the high tide.
So, just imagine,
the storm plus high tide,
what worse
can it get, you know
what I mean?
So, that's...
Yeah, pretty worried.
Yeah, let's get
the out of here.
It's getting pretty nasty.
I'm ready to
go home.
It's surging right now.
It's surging and it said it
might come up 18-feet.
If you look at
where the water level is,
we only have
about four or five feet
before the water
starts spilling out into
the parking lot.
If the boats spill out into
the parking lot,
I don't know how the hell
anyone's gonna get
those boats back
into the water.
When I look at the boat,
there's not a whole lot
that's gonna change
if I sit here and stare at it.
It kinda causes me anxiety
to sit here and watch
the water go up, actually.
If there was anything
I could do to keep it safer,
then I would,
but if the dock broke free,
and I was on the boat then
what would I do?
Just like, fire up
the outboards
and like, just try to drive
around in the wind?
Until I got a rope
bottom I prop?
I don't think that would help.
It's gonna like,
completely wash these
roads out, dude.
It's complete chaos.
I don't even know what
this means for Nome.
I think we've got
a ways to go.
So obviously, we're going into
red alert, right now.
Uh, there's-- The barge--
The barge is hitting up pretty
high with the break wall.
Which is not good.
I can't believe how
high the boat is.
And this is the high wall.
Everything looks a little bit
bad but it's not crazy yet.
The wind is gonna go up, what?
Another ten miles an hour?
20 miles an hour.
South breeze which means
we are gonna get
more water pumped to us.
So, the water is gonna
go up a little bit.
So, the cops just
stopped and talked to us.
- Huh?
-They're shutting the
roads down right now.
- What roads?
-The cops are.
He's shutting this one down,
that one and this one.
We're not going and the police
can off.
I'm not going anywhere.
You know what?
That's how I live life on
the line, baby!
The police are
out blocking the road.
I told them we're not
going anywhere.
You know, if my boat
breaks off,
it'll start wiping
out buildings.
So, we can't let that happen.
You know what I'm saying?
The all-in looks great.
It's sitting there
floating nice.
I'm not losing anything
off my deck.
I'm actually in a better
situation than The Mistress.
-Woah!
-Woah!
-Hey, watch out!
is flying off
the building.
I'm gonna stand right here
where I got the truck
blocking me.
Right now, all we got going on
is a dangerous situation.
The building behind us
is breaking apart
and we're gonna
get random pieces of steel.
Flying over towards us.
Those tins...
Tin roof just blew off
the parking lot.
It looked like some--
I thought someone was
sh**ting at us.
Everybody started diving
for cover.
Oh, man!
This is one heck
of an experience.
We've got severe
conditions going on.
50-mile an hour plus winds.
With gusts probably
pushing 80.
Right now, you can't even
hardly stand up.
The damn light poles
are singing in the wind.
They're bright and howling.
Horizontal rain.
Rivers of water coming
over the beach.
This is coming over
the sea wall.
That's 20-feet down.
Pulling across
the parking lot.
I'm knee deep in foam.
This ramp is normally
never more than horizontal.
And, it's 60 degrees upward.
We're within a foot
of a 20-foot breaker wall.
I've never seen it like
this here in Nome.
If any boat here
happens to break the line,
this could be a melee.
It's supposed to get worse.
We got two more days
of this stuff.
It's Friday now, it's supposed
to go through Sunday.
So, who knows what's up?
This is wild.
See how the Myrtle's
starting to rock now?
Where is it?
Definitely not that far.
We got a big storm.
Huge.
There's a lever dropping
down on the boat.
Now, we're stepping
up onto it.
We got really high.
You all see...
Coming in really--
This is bad.
I got the spuds down
on the Myrtle.
The spuds down
on the Christine Rose.
Spuds are still holding
but we only got another
foot and a half
before it starts floating.
Then it can float away.
I've grabbed ground with
a bucket of excavator.
Put another anchor down.
But it's not good
on a real long arm here.
I'm gonna get on the Myrtle,
I'm gonna start the generator.
I'm gonna pull down
on the spuds.
Push some pressure down
and hold them into place.
Now, I'm just tightening
up some lines.
Keeps tying up
some of these little guys.
Got some small
dredges on here.
In between us
and this big barge.
We need to get our gear
and all of our
trucks out of here.
Like, now.
Hey?
I was worr-- I gotta
get my truck
out of here.
It looks like it's gonna start
creeping over the top.
Between us and the Bering
Sea, right now,
and it's wanting
to come over.
So, first thing is,
we're gonna get
the trucks outta here and then
I'm gonna come
spend the night on the boat.
I woke up and looked
through the window, and all
of a sudden,
the water level is
all the way up to my stairs.
And everybody's telling
us to evacuate the house.
So, they said that
the water's gonna rise
two more feet above normal.
So, uhm...
And, so I think that it's time
to get the hell outta here.
Before disaster strikes,
you know?
Let's go.
It's like,
"Oh, my God.
Can you believe this?"
Like my neighbor's
house is gone.
It's down the river.
Literally, the water
carried it away
and pulled it down the river.
I'm pretty worried
'cause it could happen
to our spot too.
Because, look at the water,
it's already up to the stairs.
It's insane.
You know? That's not good.
It's just wiser to just get
the hell out of here.
Yeah, we just go load up.
Let's go.
Whoo!
Thank God, it's not my dredge.
I gotta say this is a big one.
Gotta go check out
some more boats.
So far, they're holding.
But only by
the barest fingernail.
It's about to blow
for another 24 to 30 hours
from the south.
Gonna pump more
water in there.
If more water's coming in,
they're not gonna hold.
Well, here we are
at the harbor, on the other
side of the bridge.
The only way to get here
right now is backroads.
I really wish we were
rich enough to take our boat
out of the water.
'Cause that's a rich mother
right there.
You guys want to go
take a look at the house that
hit the bridge?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Let's go take
a look at it.
Like the Wizard
of Oz house.
They're gonna
break it apart
and they're gonna pull it
out of the water.
Yeah.
Now, anybody that builds
too close to the water,
they get up.
I'm glad my family
lives way far away
from the ocean.
We are one foot from the--
From the breakers
to come over this wall.
Start filling the harbor
with all that debris.
Some of these boats are just
hanging on by a thread.
Soon as the docks go
over this pipe,
this entire thing breaks loose
and all of these boats
are going with it.
What? That thing's gonna
break loose?
Oh .
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, the freaking-- The Black
Swan's over.
I think we are
the smartest people in
the harbor right now.
It is so nice to have
the Eroica safe and sound
on the shore.
All of these guys
are just hoping this dock
stays put.
Man, they weren't
kidding when they said,
"Typhoon of the century."
I never seen anything
this massive.
There's a dredge over
there floating right by.
He's almost on the road.
It's absolute carnage.
The water's so high up,
you can't even see
the rock wall, no more.
And look at the ramp,
it's almost straight.
The east wall's already
toppled over with water.
And it can only rise up
two more feet.
So, let's go check
on the dredges.
I brought Dad here with me.
And, yeah let's go make sure
the Tahta is still intact.
I never been in this
kind f situation before.
This is the biggest wind
I've ever experienced.
Wow.
Zeke's yacht boat
is already floating away.
I hope we have a harbor by
the end of this day.
Right now, it looks like
an absolute warzone.
Boats everywhere
piling up.
And it's only gonna get worse.
For now, my dredge is good.
We need more ropes?
Okay.
Yeah, I got more ropes there.
So, now we're gonna
put more ropes
because this is gale
force winds.
It's better safe than sorry.
Right now, it's just about
55 miles an hour.
Gusting from the south
straight down.
I'm getting wet.
And, uh...
And this floating dock
is anchored
by two cement blocks.
And, it's starting
to get intense.
Every hour, every minute,
it's just only getting worse.
Wow, man.
That's crazy, I'm done.
Right over here's the spud.
Which is the assisted dock
that's connected to it.
And if we only got--
We only got three more feet
and this whole dock
is gonna lift off and take
this somewhere.
Hopeful we'll still have
a floating dock
in the next morning,
you never know.
It's gonna be blowing
for another
24 hours.
At least.
So, wait, 11 o'clock.
Yeah, everything's in the red.
Right now, the wind's
at fixed speed.
It'll drop off a little bit
about midnight.
But not much and it's still
out the south.
But the wind is still blowing
like a blue balled banshee.
Before it's over,
things are gonna bust loose.
Already, a house drifted over,
near where I live.
Washed up by the bridge.
And then, speaking
of floating away,
that sail boat over there
belongs to Zeke.
The Black Swan.
And, I can see
it's going up and down now.
It was on a crevice.
And, pulling the hard
on the land.
But, she's floating.
She's floating.
If it comes up another
foot or two, that boat's gonna
float away.
This is a mess.
Ah.
This is Front Street.
Front Street's like a river.
And that Bering Sea
is right there
just rearing its ugly head.
It's gonna be a wipeout
for this town.
Gonna be a long time putting
all this back together.
Yeah, this is pretty
damn extreme.
This is enough. I'm seeing
what I need to see.
Normally, there's a road
in front.
But the road is washed out.
Well, what this
is telling me is the water
is still coming in.
And my boats are down
there tied up
to the sea wall
on the inside of the harbor.
And...
I don't know if
we're gonna make it.
So, the entire Front
Street is shut down.
Oh, yeah, entire Front
Street, it's like gone.
Getting pretty close to, like,
peak of the storm.
And, I'm gonna go see
if there's any way
we can, kind of, get over to
the boat and check on it.
The road's pretty washed out.
Oh, my God. It looks
like it's gonna float away.
How crazy!
Oh, my gosh.
The ocean's just
taking it back.
Taking it all back.
Is that all you got?
That's pretty good.
Oh, my God.
It's finished .
Last night.
I was calling everybody
the whole time.
I've been up there
every two hours all
night long.
Right now, we're just waiting
for the storm surge to finish.
Kris, look at the front
end now.
I mean, that white line,
since this morning...
I'm telling you that white
line was under that rail.
Since I've been here at 8:00,
it's gone up that high.
Well, I think low tide
is right now.
And, tide's going to keep--
Start going up now.
So, we're gonna have
about another three feet
by ten o'clock tonight.
Oh no, . Can't afford
another three feet.
I don't think
Nome can afford
another three feet.
Don't think Nome can afford--
I mean,
look at that container.
Kris is ready to go in
the water over there, buddy.
A, are we
ever close to the edge.
Worst case scenario,
I'll swim out
to there,
will jump on that boat,
and we will just
put the boat on power.
And we'll just keep
the boat from hitting into
the side of the wall.
Like going--
Going over the wall.
There's no
way in hell
I am letting anything happen
to that barge.
It's still building.
I barely slept last night.
'Cause I'm like, listening to
the wind and in my yurt.
And, you know, yurt sounds
like it's gonna blow away.
I mean, I was really
worried about Nome.
Worried about it
and there's houses
that are getting blown
up the river.
And, there's a lot
of chaos going on.
But, so far, it looks like
the most of the infrastructure
of the harbor
is in place.
For now. Uhm,
but we need to go
assess the damage. I got
a report that
my sailboat is not
faring very well.
And you know there's really
nothing that can be done.
I mean, the water just
came up so much
that it floated
the sailboat off of its...
Cradle.
And now, the sailboat
is, uhm...
It's gonna go where
it's gonna go.
Right now, we're gonna walk
down and check on energy.
-Whoo.
-Yeah, dude.
I called you
a couple of times
trying to check on you.
Make sure you guys were
okay out there.
Well, my sailboat
has cut loose.
There's literally
nothing I can do about this
problem right now.
I can't-- There's nothing
I can do.
You just gotta let it happen.
I'm just hoping it sets
down right there.
- That's the best
I could hope for.
Can we wade through this?
How deep is it?
I think I'm gonna
go around.
Looks like the only near
catastrophe in this harbor,
so far, is my sailboat.
It's aground right now though
'cause that's the rail.
So, when the water goes out,
my sailboat is just
gonna set down on it's
side right there.
I think we're in
as good a spot as we could be.
I wouldn't want to be
anywhere else in the harbor
other than where
we're at right now.
I mean, at a certain point,
I don't know boats
are gonna start cutting loose
and getting blown
through the harbor then across
the road and over to that.
The Synergy's gonna be one
of the first boats to go.
I don't think my brain
can really deal with that
many possibilities
and scenarios.
The storm's moving into
the harbor. It's pushing over.
Things are getting
out of hand today.
It's just getting worse
and worse.
I mean, look at Front Street.
It looks like a river.
And the storm has
already passed.
But, it's just the residual,
that's what's worse,
you know what I mean?
So that's where we're
at right now.
I'm gonna go check on
the dredges again.
I want to keep mining.
But, how do you keep
mining if you don't have
the hardware no more?
You know what I mean?
Yeah, the storm
is definitely doing some
pretty hefty damage, for sure.
I'm not too sure if
I can go in there and check
on the dredge.
Oh, my God, there's no way.
That's crazy.
Wow.
Damn, it's not over yet.
Oh.
Whoo!
These boats are
in pretty good shape.
They're faced down
to the wind.
Mine is wrong side
to the wind.
Once the waves start crashing
in and hit those vessels,
they will not hold,
I guarantee you.
I am just, right now,
fingers crossed,
hoping and praying.
That I've got
sufficient lines out
and my cleats hold.
So that my two rigs
over there,
stay where they are.
Something lets go...
Next thing you know
they're gonna
come careening down
through the port area.
Hit other boats, do damage.
Looking at this boat right now
it's-- I'm feeling
a lot better about it.
In the last hour, it looked
like it came down
like, about a foot.
It's still right up
to the limit.
I've been coming over here
and putting eyeballs on it.
It's looking
a lot safer and saner
than all the madness.
But, I'd still like
to get another line to
that other cleat.
I got insurance claims.
That ought to do it.
I feel...
A hell...
Of a lot better
about things now.
I was really worried
about these rigs.
Based on what I'm seeing
and hearing,
I think the worst
of it is over.
The peak has passed.
It all looks
good to me.
Sailboat's gonna
stay right there.
Yeah.
I'll be able to probably
get Shawn's crane down here.
We'll just crane it
onto a trailer.
And then, move it to
its next home.
I think we're over the hump.
- We're over the hump.
-It's coming down.
Thanks for all your help.
Come here.
It's pretty surreal.
This is, like, just a lot for
your brain to, like,
have to...
Internalize and process.
You know, I'm kind of,
worn out.
Long 24 hours.
Good, our boats are fine.
The water's receding.
It looks like we're out
of the real trouble.
The Mistress is safe.
The All-In is safe.
We made it through the storm.
It's still up
but the water's not getting
any higher.
That's all I care about.
And then, everything will go
into clean up mode.
So, we're safe.
Oh, my God, you're getting it?
Oh, my God.
Go, go, get
the out of here!
Gonna be a while, so,
things are about to go down.
This is really...
You know, I don't know what
the hell is happening.
All I know is it's a thick
smoke in the sky.
And, my favorite bar
is going down in flames.
Bering Sea Bar has
caught on fire.
That's crazy.
It's just heartbreaking,
you know what I mean?
It's just
a heartbreaking moment.
That's insane, dude.
We have a fat storm
and all of a sudden, one of
the most historical
restaurant or bars
is now in flames.
And, it's gonna
keep spreading. That fire
is gonna keep
jumping on the next structure
to another structure.
Until the whole line's
burned down.
The most worried structure
is the Nugget Inn.
It's the most historical
building here in Nome, Alaska.
It's one of the last few
of them right here.
The owners are both hurt.
They're in
the ambulance on the way to
the hospital, I think.
Manager's down here.
He's alright but...
So, I work here
in housekeeping and when
I heard it,
I was coming right now.
All the guests
have been evacuated
to the church.
See you guys,
it's getting bigger.
They can't put it out,
it's just getting bigger
and bigger.
So, there's still
propane tanks. These
are restaurants.
They got propane tanks,
they got natural gas.
-They're still intact
so this thing could explode.
-Move back!
They're trying to get
us out so let's move back
a little bit.
Oh, my gosh,
it's not even a road.
-It's just debris and rocks.
- Holy .
-Dude, the road is gone!
- There's no road.
It's gone.
Holy !
This is insane.
Holy !
Woohoo!
Watching like,
a train wreck, you know.
It's ...
Sad and it's tough, you know.
This shouldn't
be happening at all.
And he just so
happened to be the housekeeper
in the Nugget Inn.
I don't know if
he's okay but hopefully,
everybody's okay.
So far we didn't have
any loss of life.
Even the big storm kicked in,
you know what I mean, so...
That's crazy.
Wow, looks like
we lost a little bit of real
estate here.
That's crazy.
This place is a whole mess.
And this is
absolute carnage. I mean,
there's so much trash
everywhere, it's insane.
But, it's really
unfortunate to see
my neighbor's house
is gone now.
It used to be right there.
Now it's gone.
Saddening.
Bering Sea
is pretty unforgiving.
This was a house
a couple of days ago.
And now it's just
a bunch of piles of wood
and junk.
Floating down this river
here under the bridge.
And it was on CNN too,
so that's kind of a big deal.
Town almost even burned down.
With the winds,
the way they're blowing.
Could've blown
the fire into town
and could have gotten
out of control but thank God.
You know, the fire department
got it under control.
Nome's burned down
before, I think, twice.
All the way.
Pretty sad that
they lost their house.
Their family home
for quite a few years.
You know, they lost their home
and their pictures
and all their belongings.
You know, sad. Sad.
The old ghost ship...
It hung together.
We just escaped a disaster by
the skin of our teeth.
And if the seas
had continued to build,
just another foot or two,
this place would have
ripped through.
If the water had come in
another two feet,
we'd have been taking
green seas roadside.
Against this boat
right here and that one also.
They would've--
No doubt in my mind,
they would've come undone.
We dodged a b*llet
but only barely.
They say there's
no atheists in foxholes.
Well, I'll tell you,
I was doing some serious--
I wasn't in a foxhole
but i was doing some
serious praying.
That this thing didn't
bust loose.
Thank the Lord.
We pulled the boat out
and we didn't miss a thing.
We just missed like,
the storm of the century.
Which, we were really
happy to sit out of that.
And now, you know,
barring anything happening
on the way in...
Knock on wood.
We're ready to go
back to work.
Jeep looks good.
Looks like
people are picking
up the debris
and cleaning up the town
and so far, so good.
My favorite restaurant
just burned down.
Literally, I just had my last
burger down there.
Look at that. That's all
that's left right there.
There it is.
It's just a pile of dirt.
That's a tough
one to swallow because
you know, that's a big charm
to the Nome community.
You know, because,
I myself, spend thousands
of dollars just buying food
and drinks over there.
You know, it's just
shocking that one day
it'll just be gone.
You know what I mean?
You don't realize what you
got until it's gone.
So yeah, it's just hard
to look at.
You know.
Now, we're gonna go
to the harbor
and we're gonna go check
on the dredges.
-Alright.
Check on the dredge.
So, from the looks of it,
it's nice and-- Yeah, like
nothing happened.
You know?
Not a scratch,
not a scratch at all.
We've survived, you know what
I mean? Still here.
My dad's dredge.
Spuds are still good.
Good thing we doubled them up.
Strategy worked.
Yeah, that trick held up.
Good initiative.
Go check on the Tahta.
Everything looks good.
Nobody stole my gas, so...
Yeah.
So, what's the outlook
for our season?
Right now, it does not
look very good.
Because right now, the whole
ocean is all stirred up.
And you can't see
for a while so you gotta let
that thing settle down.
Fingers crossed, this week,
it will give us another big
clear wind over us
to go back out there and go
back to gold dredging.
So, yeah. It's all
I'm looking forward to.
We'll just play it by ear.
Next time on
Bering Sea Gold...
It's our first day of mining
after the big storm.
The typhoon played havoc
on the town.
Destroyed a bunch of stuff.
But, it's gonna open up some
new ground for us miners.
No use for that ultra
concentrated storm gorge.
I'm excited to get
back out there.
We're getting some
strong north-east winds
and it's not very
safe for my dredge to be
out here alone.
We're gonna go
for it, you know.
Fortune favors the bold.
It's gonna be
a really tough dive.
That's some
major current.
He almost went right
under the boat.
That's a hot pan.
She's loaded!
Seeing gold all
over the place here.
-He sees it everywhere.
-Gold everywhere.
That thing's blowing
steam? Holy .
Wow.
Yeah, put a couple hundred
dollars in the box today!
We're taking on water.
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17x09 - Apocalypse Nome
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The show follows boats equipped with various setups to achieve gold mining in a summertime, cold northern latitude, shallow water, ocean environment.
The show follows boats equipped with various setups to achieve gold mining in a summertime, cold northern latitude, shallow water, ocean environment.