UPDATE 1-Foul weather delays launch of U.S. census head count in rural Alaska

The launch of the U.S. Census Bureau's once-in-a decade head count of Americans was delayed on Tuesday by bad weather in one of the most remote corners of the country - a tiny Alaska Native settlement on the Bering Sea coast. The 2020 population tally had been scheduled to start Tuesday morning with a ceremonial welcoming of Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and his team to Toksook Bay, a Yup'ik village about 500 miles (805 km) west of Anchorage.

But two planes chartered for the census group ended up grounded for five hours in the southwestern Alaska town of Bethel, 115 miles east of Toksook Bay, due to freezing fog and low clouds enveloping the region. After Dillingham's flight was nearly canceled, a break in the weather finally allowed his entourage to take off, though spokeswoman Virginia Hyer stressed that census takers already on the ground at their destination were ready to begin their work in any event.

"Toksook Bay is happening, no matter what," Hyer said. The first American to be counted, according to plans, was an Alaska Native elder chosen by the tribal government in Toksook Bay, a seaside village whose population, according to state records, stands at 683. From there, a team will fan out to collect census data from the rest of the community in a day of planned fanfare to include Yup'ik dance performances and a feast of traditional foods.

The census, a decennial endeavor mandated in the U.S. Constitution, is the basis for redrawing state legislative districts and reapportionment of Congress. It also guides government funding for an array of programs and services and produces some of the world's most widely used statistics. In the Lower 48 states, information about this year's census is expected to be mailed to households in mid-March, with April 1 designated the date of record for residential information submitted on census forms. Most people are expected to respond online, by mail or by telephone.

But in sprawling rural Alaska where travel can be challenging due to a scarcity of roads and extreme weather, the census must start sooner. The Census Bureau has a tradition of selecting one or more remote Native villages to begin its official enumeration. But the census kickoff in Alaska is about more than counting residents. It is also meant to draw attention.

"It's the first time the word is really getting across the nation that the 2020 census is here," Dillingham said on Saturday. Census officials have spent several days in the state meeting with Alaska Natives and others among groups that tend to be undercounted – immigrants and college students. The agency also has translated its materials into several indigenous languages, including Yup'ik.

The bureau expects to hire 300,000 to 500,000 census takers for the 2020 count and has so far taken 1.8 million applications for those temporary jobs, Dillingham said. He acknowledged that immigrants feeling vulnerable about their status may be reluctant to respond to questionnaires but stressed that all data collected is confidential.

The Trump administration tried to insert a question about citizenship status in this year's census form, a move that critics said would have made immigrants more fearful of the process. But the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that plan. (Additional reporting by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage; Editing by Steve Gorman, Gerry Doyle and Cynthia Osterman)

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