The Associated Press
TAHOLAH — Leaders of the Quinault Nation are seeking federal money to relocate some homes and facilities on its reservation to higher ground because of flooding and other threats.
The tribe’s president, Fawn Sharp, testified before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
She said the tribe wants help relocating a senior housing center, a tribal school, emergency services and other facilities to a safer area.
The facilities are currently in the tribe’s lower village, which sits below sea level on the Washington state coast and is vulnerable to flooding, rising sea levels, tsunamis and other natural disasters. The tribe has declared multiple emergencies because of seawall breaches.
The tribe has about 1,300 members and is located on the southwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula.
The Quileute in LaPush and Hoh on the Hoh River mouth on the Pacific Coast are relocating their villages upland to put them out of the way of high water.
