Brooklyn David, Paula Jung, Kiley Amik, and Gretchen Tressler are middle and high school students who participated in a media workshop sponsored by the Lower Kuskokwim School District Migrant Education program and Alaska Sea Grant/University of Alaska Fairbanks.
As part of our media workshop, we interviewed Fred Phillip and Lucy Martin about their experiences during ex-typhoon Halong. We wanted to learn what happened during the storm and how it affected their community. Even though they lived through the same storm, they each had different experiences and memories to share. Their stories taught us about resilience, helping others, and staying strong during difficult times. We hope these interviews help others learn more about ex-typhoon Halong and the people who lived through it.
Fred Philip
Fred Phillip shared his memories of Typhoon Halong and what he did to help protect his community. He told us how he warned people to go to the school before the storm became more dangerous. His story helped us understand how quickly disasters can change people’s lives, and how important it is to help one another during emergencies. Fred showed us that resilience means staying strong, helping others, and working together when times are hard.
The discussion has been edited for clarity and condensed by Katie Baldwin Basile and Deja Jackson.
Here is our conversation.
Brooklyn David: I’m Brooklyn, I'm from Bethel, and I'm in eighth grade.
Gretchen Tressler: I'm Gretchen, I'm from Bethel, and I'm in eighth grade.
Fred Phillip: My name is Fred Phillip. I have lots of Yup’ik names, but I go with Kavlak, and I think it was one of my grandpa's names, who I never met.
Brooklyn David: Where are you living right now?
Fred Phillip: Since Oct. 14, I've been living up here in Bethel at the church dormitory.
Gretchen Tressler: What do you miss about Kwigillingok?
Fred Phillip: It's where I grew up, where I started hunting, taking care of things, getting married, and living off the land. That means everything. The gathering season starts in the springtime, and from the springtime on we gather all kinds of plants. Fishing is another one. What I miss about Kwig is the way it was before the storm, so it's devastating. It's devastating.
Gretchen Tressler: What environmental changes have you noticed throughout your lifetime?
Fred Phillip: Lots. Erosion, climate change, the weather — all those things have changed in my time. What I've seen in my time, back in the late ‘60s, over half of the people moved from Kwigillingok to Kongiganak, which is about 10 miles away. The reason for that was after the ‘64 earthquake, we saw the elevation go down. From there we started having floods, and climate change is a big factor that is making things happen. It's the ground, the permafrost is melting. These are the things that I see within our community.
Brooklyn David: Would you feel comfortable sharing the story about the night of the typhoon? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it.
Fred Phillip: The night of the typhoon… I hate to get emotional because we lost people. We lost three people from our community. Most of the people that were there at the time, when the winds came, most of them probably didn't think that the water wasn't going to get high as it did. I think over half of the homes drifted across the river.
One instance — because we have phones, I had told some of the people I know that they should go to the school for safety purposes. The response I got wasn't something I expected, but later, when the water came and the homes started floating, the person who called me — the one I talked to — he was telling me, 'We're starting to float, we're going towards the river,' and I didn't have an answer. I couldn't say anything at that point, but luckily the couple that were in that house survived, which I'm grateful for.
You know, to make matters worse, at that time, my son, one of my boys, was staying at his house. I kept calling him. He went back to sleep. Then I kept calling. He didn't answer for a long while, but I kept calling. Finally, when he answered, I told him, 'you better get up, get up to the school,' and he may have been one of the last ones that went up to the school before the boardwalk broke apart and floated.
We are working very hard to see what's going to come next. It may be relocation, and when we talk about relocation my first thought is — don't worry about infrastructure, don't worry about schools, don't worry about offices, because those things can be replaced. At what cost, I don't know, but really it's something, going out and seeing the water rising.
There was a house, and at that house near the school, a family with small, small children. You know what really surprised me is the house was about to — it started moving. I want to share this with you, that even children believe, believe in God. The one child started praying, his father was telling us. When he started praying, the house kind of settled down — it started moving down.
I don't think I want to see that kind of thing happening again, but it will. It can. Especially with the science we have today, the climate change, the El Niño, all those things — they fit into the puzzle. When [Typhoon] Merbok happened, I started telling people we are not immune as a community, it can happen to us. Two years later it came, it was mad, and my son was saying that when he saw the water or the rain, the spray, it was just going sideways with the wind. I don't know how high the winds were, but they were probably close to 100 miles or even higher. Most of the homes that floated across the river, majority of them had people inside them — families. One thing that I'm thankful for is technology — we were talking to them, and then the next day and the day after, the chopper started bringing the families to the school.
You've probably seen hurricanes on TV, down southeast USA, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana. It was, it was like that, the houses that were there no longer there. I want to say this, that we are resilient. We will rebuild if we need to move. If people agree to the move, we will find a new village, new place to build — build a village back up.
Gretchen Tressler: What does resilience mean to you?
Fred Phillip: Being able to build back, for one, and you know that. An example I can use that you might understand is that the kids — the children — they'll fight — but they always forgive. That's the resiliency that we have, being able to overcome problems — it will never be the same, but hopefully we will rebuild. I may not see it, she will see it [points to Kiley Amik, student from Kwigillingok]. You guys will hear about it, you guys will read about it so you understand what resiliency is.
Brooklyn David: What are some examples of community resilience that you have witnessed in your lifetime?
Fred Phillip: I can use an example. After the ‘64 earthquake, we started seeing floods and some of the people started talking about moving to a different place, and that's how Kongiganak got to be. How they did it first – used dog teams to move the houses, and then they got some help, got a tractor and moved some of the houses. They built that community from bottom up, from ground up. Today it's a thriving community.
Gretchen Tressler: We read in a KYUK article that you remember Elders saying that there would be changes in winter, that they wouldn't be as cold like they used to. What did the Elders mean by that? And how did they know that it would happen in the future?
Fred Phillip: I've been attending community meetings since I got back from service in the mid-70s. I started hearing our Elders saying that the weather's going to change, it's going to get warmer. They didn't say climate change, they said that these things are going to happen. We're going to have less snow in the winter. It's not going to be as cold, and one of the biggest problems is erosion. The Elders that I used to listen to — there's lots of lakes there, and you know what they said was, if the lake drains, drains out, all the land that used to be high around the lakes is going to sink. That's what exactly happened. It used to be fairly high in my time in the '50s and the '60s. I saw those things, and in the last probably 50 years during the committee community meetings, they talk about needing to find a new place because all of that is low ground.
Brooklyn David: Back then, what phrase did the Elders use when they were talking about climate change? How did they say it in Yugtun?
Fred Phillip: Ellaguq uksuiyuiruciquq (winter will be gone), nengliyuiruciquq (it won't be cold anymore). They didn't use the words that we have today — climate change — they didn't talk about it in that way, but what they said was the weather's going to change, the seasons are going to change. So we see all that. I saw big areas when I was going down there and the reason why is we have the land — because of permafrost that — you know, sometimes to cool chunks of land, and in some of the grassy areas you see the landform — like an accordion.
Tauten qantullruut ciulaput (that's what our ancestors used to tell us), all the people that are gone today. I used to listen to them talk about these things, but I think if I can piece some things together, things like this happened in the past. Where there was lots, lots of water, even when people didn't have lots of things. There was wood up high, up on where the hills are, 5-10 miles away from the community. They say that's when those big floods happened.
Gretchen Tressler: What do you hope for future generations?
Fred Phillip: My hope is that you guys, one day, you'll be my age. You see all these things, learn from that. Start listening to science, especially how to cope with change. There are a lot of things that you will see changes in your time — things I won't see. Maybe Bethel will become a bigger place. Right now it's, what, six, seven, 8,000 people in Bethel? One day it may be 50,000 people. That's a reality that people will face. Some of the communities that are out there in the low-lying areas will come to a point where it is no longer habitable or safe to stay in that area. One thing I know, people need to work together. People need to work together, no matter what color, red, brown, blue, they have to work together. It's important.
Brooklyn David: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Fred Phillip: You know, I used to be bored at one time when Elders talked. It didn't make sense to me. I was your age once, you know? It didn't make sense at the time. I thought I was going to be young all the time. In high school they were telling us, you guys will be the leaders one day. Sure enough, and you guys will be leaders one day. Think about it, there's a lot of things that, as young people, you have the potential — it’s right in front of you.
You can be anything you want, but one thing I would caution is don't get into drugs or alcohol, that will be a big downfall. Even today, we lose our young people to alcohol, even in the wintertime – we're seeing that in summertime. I hope you think about this from time to time. You might even say, 'Oh, I remember that old guy talking about this stuff,' so I'm telling you the truth.
It may not feel like it right now, but one day you will realize that you will be walking our footsteps, and you will be advising your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, of what to expect in life. That is my advice.
