The night before:
Not sure what to make of the major network news stations. I mean, the Washington Post says that, "A storm of historic intensity continues to pound the west coast of
Alaska today. Twice the size of Texas, the storm is as deep as a
category 3 hurricane." A hurricane?! Really? Did I just live through a hurricane?
I'm going to say nope. But it was kind of crazy. The weather itself was nothing out of the ordinary. The winds were high. The precipitation didn't fall (literally - it just traveled horizontally across the world). But these things are typical of Alaska storms. What was freaky was the potential storm surge. The flooding. Normally these storms happen in the dead of winter when the coast is protected by a mile or more of sea ice. High waves stay safely out to sea. The wind can't push the tide exceptionally high. Last night, however, without our safety ice, people were worried.
News of the storm was buzzing throughout the village the days preceding it. Reports and rumors mixed and anxiety slowly began to build. The storm was supposed to hit around 1:00 in the afternoon. School was going to go as late as possible. It turned out that 2:45 was that time. We dismissed early, sending students home with their parents. Almost immediately following dismissal, the school was reopened for families who wished to evacuate their homes. A storm surge of 10-15 feet would threaten to breach the sea wall, essentially flooding all of Downtown, including teacher housing where all of the teachers live.
Part of Downtown lost power around dinner time. At about 10:30 we received a phone call from our principal urging us to spend the night at the school as the water was continuing to rise. After sending three teachers to get a look at the ocean we made the decision to move up to school for the night. So all of us teachers from the BIA moved into a classroom for the night. Waking up a few short hours later a tired group of teachers began teaching a tired bunch of students. The weather is supposed to pick up again tonight. I'm hoping it doesn't. I need some sleep.
Great Pictures of TUNUNAK!
Washington Post article
Diane Sawyer and the NEWS!
