I was reading that 1974 was the last such storm to hit Alaska. However, one major change since then is a tremendous loss of "shore fast ice" that helps absorb/deflect the energy of the waves and storm surge before finally reaching shore. I guess it's analogous to how the wetlands south of New Orleans used to dampen the force of incoming hurricanes before it actually reached the city, but not much of that buffer is left anymore either.

So, if we're going to get more extreme weather due to climate change, it would be smart to think about how to shore up natural buffers to such weather that we may have allowed to degrade.