West coast storm weigh on minds at Elders and Youth Conference

The Elders and Youth Conference also highlights some of the challenges facing villages and communities across Alaska. Here at the conference, the focus is on culture and tradition, but what's happening on the West Coast is lingering on some minds. Nina Sterbenz has family in Shishmaref, a town already affected by erosion and warming tundra. She says the community has seen some damage, including to a seawall built to help prevent flooding. “They worked on the seawall project in the summer, and that went down a couple of days ago,” said Sterbenz. She also shares that the storms have been changing. “They usually have the storm in October and November, but now it’s getting earlier.” Gloria Simeon is from Bethel and left just prior to the storm hitting. She shares that i