WEATHER
Alaska faces severe storm with less ice to protect its coasts
A rare and powerful storm hit the western coast of Alaska yesterday, battering communities from the Aleutian Islands to the Bering Sea with rain, snow, strong waves and hurricane-force winds. As the storm began to move out last night, the National Weather Service warned that a lack of sea ice along Alaska's shoreline left some villages more vulnerable to severe coastal erosion and flooding from storm surge.