Deh Cho

When climate-fuelled disaster pummels your hometown, what comes next?

When climate-fuelled disaster pummels your hometown, what comes next?

Cheryl Cli’s house is so new, it’s still in the packaging. The modular build sits on a muddy lot on safe, high ground about five minutes outside of Fort Simpson, N.W.T. Some of the industrial plastic is ripped away, revealing its cherry red siding. On this April day, the air smells of meat and veggies cooking over an open fire. Cli is having a cookout with friends and family to “claim” the lot. Earlier in the week, she noticed some firewood had been taken. “It’s OK, they probably needed it,” she says.