A low-pressure system hit Elfin Cove like a tornado around 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 22, causing serious damage to at least five residences and cutting off the small town’s boardwalk and trail system, some electrical and water lines, as well as the Sitka public radio station transmitter.

No injuries were reported from the storm, which centered on the steep eastern shore of the bay inside Elfin Cove.

About 20 people live in the northwest Chichagof Island community, about 190 air miles northwest of Wrangell.

Before the storm front reached town, Mary Jo Lord-Wild was gathering kelp in front of her home on the western shore of the bay. “It was blowing 40 knots, but it was doable,” Lord-Wild said. “And suddenly it increased to something like 70 or 80 knots.”

“Then you could hear the rocks starting to tumble down the hillside across the way, and hear the trees go down across the way,” she said. “You could stand here at our house and hear rocks coming down in three different areas, and splashes when they hit the water.”

“I’ve lived here since 1972 and this is the biggest event I’ve seen.”

One of the Sept. 22 landslides hit a power line or transformer, which began sparking when struck, she said.

Residents worked to shut off power and later isolated the system to restore power downtown. Cell service still worked, and many in the community have satellite internet access via StarLink, Lord-Wild said.

Debris hit the community’s water line; residents isolated lines so the water tank wouldn’t drain.

A tree came down on the building that houses the transmitter station for Sitka public radio station KCAW. The radio tower was hit and is leaning against the building, and debris damaged the satellite dish that picks up Alaska Rural Communications System television broadcasts.

KCAW station manager Mariana Robertson said the station is investigating stopgap fixes to restore service to Elfin Cove, but it may be off the air until the transmitter station is fixed.

Tyler Magart, who lives on the eastern shore of the bay, said it “felt like … a normal September storm,” until she looked out the window and saw a neighbor struggling to tie up his boat.

“I was like, ‘what’s going on?’” Magart said. “Then I realized there was a tree down between our property and the neighbor’s property, it was in the water.”

“I told my husband, ‘We need to get out of here,’” Magart said. The couple left their home and ran toward the post office and community center.

As they fled, trees began falling all around them, blocking the boardwalk in both directions. The couple waited under an awning, yelling back and forth with neighbors, ensuring that others were safe.

Magart said she counted six homes hit by debris, including one that houses the town’s restaurant.

A representative of the Alaska Department of Transportation, as well as a state geologist, went to Elfin Cove to assess hazards and survey damages with a drone.

National Weather Service hydrologist Aaron Jacobs said the Elfin Cove area saw east winds around 40 miles per hour. “And as the low moved over the region right around 10 a.m. we saw a very strong wind shift to the southwest, and we saw sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph with gusts up to 70 mph.”