AFTER A DEVASTATING FLOOD, SURVEYING A DESTROYED ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE.

UPSOUND (English) Harry Friend, Kwigillingok flood survivor:

“Could have killed somebody here. See the pipe stick through the wall?”

STORM SURGES BROUGHT BY THE REMNANTS OF TYPHOON HALONG KILLED ONE PERSON AND KNOCKED DOZENS OF HOMES OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS IN THE SMALL YUP’IK ("YOUP-ick") VILLAGE OF KWIGILLINGOK (kwih GILL ung awk) LAST MONTH. TWO PEOPLE REMAIN MISSING.

THE SAME STORM DESTROYED AN ESTIMATED 90 PERCENT OF A SECOND VILLAGE, NAMED KIPNUK (KIP-nuck).

SOUNDBITE (English) Louise Paul, Kipnuk flood survivor:

“The wind had picked up, you could hear it howling and this big house hit us and we rocked off our foundation and went into the water and we were floating."

NOW HUNDREDS OF RESIDENTS FROM THE TWO VILLAGES ARE SCATTERED IN TEMPORARY HOUSING FAR FROM HOME.

MOST ARE IN THE STATE’S BIGGEST CITY, ANCHORAGE, AND THEY ARE WONDERING WHAT COMES NEXT.

SOUNDBITE (English) Louise Paul, Kipnuk flood survivor:

"A lot of people have claimed they're not returning. They don't want to do this again. Every fall, we have a flood. It might not be as extreme as this one was, but as the years have set in, we're seeing that climate warming is increasing, the storms, and they're just getting worse and worse."

MOST PEOPLE IN THESE VILLAGES ARE FEDERALLY-RECOGNIZED SUBSISTENCE HUNTERS, THEIR HARVESTS RANGING FROM WALRUS TO BELUGA WHALE AND MOOSE.

THEY ARE FINDING LIFE _ AND RULES _ DIFFERENT IN ANCHORAGE.

SOUNDBITE (English) Darrell John, Kipnuk flood survivor who has taken refuge in Anchorage:

"They were telling me if I was going to hunt, I was gonna have to wait till open season. Buying a hunting license permit or something?"

SOME RESIDENTS ARE HOPING THE VILLAGES ARE RELOCATED. BUT ONLY ONE ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE – NEWTOK (NEW-tok) - HAS BEEN MOVED BEFORE. THAT TOOK DECADES AND COST $160 MILLION.

SOUNDBITE (English) Darrel John, Kwigillingok flood survivor:

"My hope is that, you know... The state agencies, D.C. officials, Washington D. C. cabinet members will make the effort of expediting the process of relocating our community to higher ground.”

SOUNDBITE (English) Darrel John, Kwigillingok flood survivor:

"And I'm saying that for the next generation, I'm not thinking about myself, I am thinking about the next generations. I don't want them to go through what we went through."