The terror threat level in Alaska is unchanged from Tuesday and the day before and the day before that, according to the state Homeland Security & Emergency Management Division. But if you're living on Saint Lawrence Island out in the Bering Sea, look out!
A well-known Alaska terrorist appears to be arming in the North Pacific Ocean to the south, according to Homeland Security. She is generally known as "Mother Nature," and she is getting ready to blast the island.
The federal agency's Oct. 12 daily "situation report" noted a "high surf advisory'' for the southern coast of the island and parts of the Bering Sea coast north and east of the island. Fortunately, for the residents of St. Lawrence Island, everyone lives on the north side of the island. The Yupik Eskimos who first settled the 1,800-square-mile island about 2,000 years ago apparently figured out right quick the direction from which terror threats came.
Their ancestors, and the few Caucasians who over time have migrated to the island, now live in two north-island communities -- Gambell, population 681, and Savoonga, population 671. Neither town was thought to be in any serious danger. The people of the island have become pretty adept at dealing with threats from Mother Nature, although she caused havoc in Savoonga with a January ice storm.
Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com