The Kivalina school remained closed Monday with no clear date when classes will resume due to a lack of drinking water in the coastal, barrier reef village.

Storm after storm soaked the Inupiaq community and many others in Northwest Alaska beginning in mid-August. In Kivalina's case, a nearby river surged to the highest point since at least 1985, clouding water that was to be used to fill village holding tanks.

Classes in the village, scheduled to begin Aug. 20, have been indefinitely postponed until running water can be restored to the school buildings and teacher housing.

"There's no telling when it's going to clear up, when the turbidity is going to go down. It's all dependent upon Mother Nature," said city administrator Janet Mitchell.

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"There is drinking water in the community," Zidek said. "They're catching rain -- and there's been a lot of rain lately -- so they do have rainwater that they can boil and then drink," Zidek said.