Thursday morning, a steady line of evacuees formed near the armory building in Bethel to load up on a C-17 to be flown to Anchorage.

Most people carried one bag. The children held dolls or stuffies. It was all they could take after the water flooded their homes, carrying some of the buildings four or five miles away or — even scarier — out to sea.

As rescue efforts continue throughout western Alaska in the wake of former Typhoon Halong, Anchorage city officials are working to accommodate a growing number of evacuees seeking shelter in the state’s largest city.

Crews scurried to turn the Alaska Airlines Sports Center into an emergency shelter for evacuated flood victims Wednesday night. Within hours there were 300 cots set up inside.