WHITEHORSE — Yukon is sending financial support to Haines, Alaska, as that community recovers from last month's devastating floods and landslides.

A statement from the government of Yukon says $25,000 has been sent to the Salvation Army Alaska Division.

The funds will go to that organization's winter storm response fund, set up in the days after the disaster. 

The Yukon statement says the money will also support the territory's efforts to clear the Alaska Highway, which was damaged during what has been described as a one-in-200-year event.

Two people died and the town centre of Haines was temporarily cut off from its airport and ferry terminal when more than 20 centimetres of rain fell in a 36-hour period between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, 2020.

The rain could not be absorbed by the frozen ground, so it flowed overland, flooding roads, creating sinkholes, causing mudslides and washing away numerous homes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2021.

The Canadian Press