The declaration gives the far-north community of Utqiagvik access to state money to help repair damaged infrastructure like roads.

Winter storm shuts down communication services for the community.

"Yesterday we came over to do an assessment of the high-water flood storm," said Northwest Arctic Borough Deputy Director of Public Services Dickie Moto, who grew up in Deering. "They lost a lot of ground on the front and on the back side of town because of the high water and rough seas.

Series of storms contribute to flooding, erosion, infrastructure damage.

Waters were expected to reach their highest levels Monday night and into Tuesday.

The National Weather Service forecast wind gusts up to 50 mph in some places and whiteout conditions.

2-22-12 Pressure ice ridges "Vuneqs" - Kwigillingok, Alaska, USA

Disaster funds are reserved for single events, and storms that collectively cause much damage aren't often individually large enough to count as disasters.

Within the last year, they have measured twenty to one hundred feet of erosion along different sections of their coast line.

Cleanup and recovery from the recent storm that battered the North Slope coastline may carry a price tag exceeding $10 million.