This story was originally published in the Alaska Beacon.
Testifying before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about last fall’s deadly remnants of Typhoon Halong, Paul J. Paul, Chief of the Native Village of Kipnuk, recalled the moment his six-year-old granddaughter asked the family to sing “Silent Night” — in the dark — as early-morning floodwaters swirled violently around their home.
Lucy Martin, a tribal resilience assistant coordinator for Kwigillingok, listened as she dabbed her eyes dry. Earlier that day, she described graves and caskets unearthed by the storm rolling outside her window as her home broke free from its foundation and floated away. “It was a real-life horror movie for me,” she said…