Calista Works to Support Communities in Recovery
Storyknife, January/February 2026 edition
For one frightening night, Marvin Jimmy Sr., a Calista Descendant from Kipnuk and his family struggled to survive Typhoon Halong. In the storm’s aftermath, he has remained in Kipnuk, working for Calista subsidiary STG Incorporated to maintain and protect the village’s water system.
Since Typhoon Halong hit western Alaska on October 11 to 12, many organizations have joined together to address the catastrophic damage suffered by Kipnuk, Kwigillingok, and many communities in the Calista Region and also to support the large number of village residents who evacuated to Bethel, Anchorage and other communities.
Calista’s participation in the typhoon response has included providing direct support to the Tribes and Shareholders who evacuated their villages and collecting funds for disaster relief. The annual Elders’ Benefit Distribution was paid early due to the storm, and Calista’s Board and management are committed to working with the affected communities through what is likely to be multiple years of recovery.
The Night of the Storm
On the night Typhoon Halong hit Kipnuk, Jimmy went to sleep thinking about everything he had to do for work in the morning. He tried to sleep through the storm like many nights of high winds before it, but this was different.
Jimmy’s son woke him up at about 2 a.m. to tell him floodwaters started reaching the four-wheelers outside the house. The power was already out in the village at this time.
“When I woke up, the sheet metal was coming loose on the roof and sides of the house. It sounded like a sledgehammer banging on the wall,” Jimmy says. “I got up and put on my waders to move the four-wheelers to higher ground on our steps. The water rushed in. It went from knee-deep to just above my waders.”
Jimmy’s house started floating away as he was getting ready to set the four-wheelers on the steps to his porch.
His home floated away too far into deeper water for him to reach, and the nearest home was his neighbor’s house. Jimmy waded through the water and knocked on the door. The neighbors were home and let him sit out the storm for the rest of the night.
Two of Jimmy’s three sons and one son’s girlfriend were in the home when it floated away. Jimmy called them on the phone after they floated away. His son’s voice became louder on the phone when he said, “Whoa! There’s another house coming towards us!”
The water rushed in. It went from knee-deep to just above my waders.
Marvin Jimmy Sr., Calista Descendant from Kipnuk working for STG Inc. as a Journeyman Pipefitter
The other house hit his home on the side, causing a window to shatter. Jimmy told them to cover up the window and stay warm.
His third son stayed with his grandmother, Jimmy’s mother, that night due to the storm. Her home was on higher ground, an area that wasn’t flooded in the storm.
The Aftermath
By the next morning, people in Kipnuk made their way to the school, one of the only places with power, thanks to a generator.
“The flood went out in the morning, and our neighbor’s home drifted right by our home,” Jimmy says. “Our home floated about 500 to 1,000 feet overnight.”
Before going to the school, Jimmy checked on his home and saw that everyone in his home was OK after the storm. His four-wheelers, a standup freezer full of food and a shed were a total loss. His home saw significant water damage, a broken window and loss of power. Jimmy says the house is still salvageable but needs a new foundation and new floors.
The electricity was out in the village for about a month. Jimmy worked for the Kipnuk Tribe as a Water Operator and transitioned to work for STG Inc. as a pipefitter when the Tribe had to move out of the village and to Anchorage to continue operations.
The Native Village of Kipnuk and the Native Village of Kwigillingok both moved operations out of their respective villages and Kipnuk accepted Calista’s offer to use temporary workspace and equipment at Calista headquarters in Anchorage.
Calista subsidiaries have a long-term presence in Kipnuk and have been working every day to recover as much as possible before freeze-up. Jimmy is staying at his mom’s home which was reconnected to electricity and did not sustain flood damage.
“We work every day about 10 hours a day,” Jimmy says. “Kipnuk has construction workers, backhaul workers, electricians, plumbers and nearly all the trades necessary to bring a village back online.”
Calista Corporation is working across multiple fronts to support its Shareholders and Y-K communities impacted by the 2025 West Coast Storm. Calista subsidiaries have operations in more than ten villages in the Region supporting typhoon-related recovery assignments.
“We’re slowing making progress. We still need to cleanup a lot of debris and move homes back,” Jimmy says. “We still have work to do, in order for Kipnuk to be Kipnuk again.”
