Kipnuk Operations Summary

12/3/2025

• Outside work was nominal due to wind, freezing rain, and low visibility. 
• Crews performed housekeeping in the school, Tribal Council building, and living quarters.  

Daily Activities

• Crews arriving in Kipnuk on 12/5 to assess/repair additional LKSD properties and non-AVCP houses. 

12/2/2025

• Outside work was nominal due to wind, freezing rain, and low visibility. 
• Crews performed housekeeping in the school, Tribal Council building, and living quarters.  

Daily Activities

• Double checking teacher housing units for damage - meeting with LKSD revealed there may be additional units we were unaware of that are at lower elevation and more likely to have sustained damage. 
• GHEMM crew scheduled to return to Kipnuk on 12/4. Currently there is no direction for work. 
  • All materials procured thus far are for AVCP houses and currently have been instructed not to work on those structures. 
  • If no additional work is provided - crews will re-direct to Kongiganak. 

11/30/2025

• Boardwalk crew continued working on elevated sections in town. 
• Linemen continued working on 3 phase backbone to barge landing. 
• Spent a large portion of the day doing snow removal. 
• Tribal Council Building is operational although a few minor repairs remain.

11/29/2025

• Boardwalk crew continued working on elevated sections in town, also assisted with debris removal. 
• Lineman continued working on 3 phase backbone to barge landing. 
• Received and unloaded cargo. 
• Continued working on Tribal Council Building repairs. 

Daily Activities 

• No damage reported to the school or teacher housing. 
• Constructed a custom rack on the trailer for transporting 16-foot lumber. 
• Moved tool pallets from Denali Supply into classrooms designated for temporary crew housing; awaiting dry storage container. 
• Installed protective floor covering and set up sleeping areas with cots and bags. 
• Initiated AVCP housing map with unit numbers and work tracking (approximately 1/3 complete); built a fuel and generator storage box alongside the school. 
• Redirected crew and materials to Kongiganak due to flight restrictions in Kipnuk. 
• A total of 3 GHEMM team members are currently on-site. 

11/28/2025

• Continued with debris cleanup around the Tribal Council building. 
• Building pad at water treatment plant. 
• Linemen continued working on 3 phase backbone to barge landing. 

11/27/2025

• No Change: Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school.
• Continued with debris cleanup. 

11/26/2025

• No Change: Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school.
• Continued with debris cleanup. 

11/25/2025

• No Change: Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school. 
• Contractor informed to prioritize work on Kipnuk Tribal Building. Non-Objection obtained from Local Tribal Administrator. 
• Linemen continued with overhead power installation. 
• 24 houses now have complete electrical systems. 

11/23/2025

• No Change: Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school. 
• Continued debris removal and sorting out metal from debris piles. 
• Linemen continued framing and setting new overhead power poles. 

11/21/2025

• Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school. 
• Continued debris removal and sorting out metal from debris piles. 
• Linemen continued framing and setting new overhead power poles. 

Daily Activities

• Three crew members expected to arrive on 11/26, an additional two crew members will arrive on 11/28 to begin repairs. 
• DOT&PF issued approval for GHEMM to purchase tools and equipment for the Kipnuk mobilization. 

11/20/2025

• Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school. 
• Continued debris removal and sorting out metal from debris piles. 
• Linemen continued framing and setting new overhead power poles. 

11/19/2025

• Boardwalk crew continued working from water treatment plant to school.
• Milestone: Permanent power restored to the airport.
• Milestone: Permanent power restored to clinic. 
• Continued debris removal and sorting out metal from debris. 

11/18/2025

• Installing electrical meter boxes on Post Office and Armory. 
• Linemen moved poles from airport to select locations and started building cross arms. 
• Boardwalk crew working on access to AVEC 4-plex and to lagoon. 
• Continued debris removal and sorting out metal from debris piles. 

11/15/2025

• Lineman working towards GCI cell tower with permanent power.
• Boardwalk reconstruction to lagoon continues to be carried out. 
• Delta Back Haul continued with debris removal. 

Daily Activities

• No field work scheduled today; crews are stationed in Kong. 
• GHEMM Contractor is currently preparing material, tool, and equipment inventories required for mobilization to Kipnuk. 

11/14/2025

• Estimate 40 caskets on the other side of the river that can't be reached until it freezes more. 
• Boardwalk reconstruction to lagoon continues to be carried out. 
• Assisted Delta Back Haul with debris removal.
• Runway light repair parts onsite. Working with FAA for repairs and to switch to permanent power. 

11/13/2024

• ADF onsite to begin returning caskets to proper resting place, 28 accomplished so far. 

• Boardwalk reconstruction to lagoon continues to be carried out. 

• Linemen crew continued to work west towards GCI tower. 

• Mechanics evaluating repairs needed on Kipnuk equipment and have ordered parts. 

11/11/2025

Coordination & Planning:

• Coordination is ongoing regarding living conditions, utilities, and material handling.
• Work has begun on compiling material, tool, and equipment lists needed for mobilization into Kipnuk, while operations continue in Kongiganak.
• Continued work on permanent power to airport, clinic, washeteria, and armory. 
• Boardwalk lights are operational.

Logistics & Shipping:

• Lumber and fasteners have been delivered to Lynden and are scheduled for air transport to Kipnuk via charter flights.
• Weather delays over the weekend have impacted the flight schedule; exact departure times remain uncertain.
• A shipping reminder was sent for the generator.

11/10/2025

• Building boardwalk between the tank farm and the landfill.
• Continuing work on permanent power to airport, clinic, and washeteria, armory, and the clinic.
• Continued generator support for infrastructure without permanent power.
• Lumber and fasteners have been procured and delivered to Lynden for transport overt the weekend; Brice will secure materials as they arrive on behalf of Ghemm Co.

11/09/2025

• Building boardwalk between the power plant and tank farm.
• Continuing work on permanent power to airport, clinic, and washeteria, framed and set 4 poles.
• Preparing for storm event (Winter Weather Advisory).

11/08/2025

• Inventorying houses that need to be moved for work to progress.
• Continuing work on permanent power to airport, clinic, and washeteria.
• Preparing for storm event (Winter Weather Advisory).

11/07/2025

• Raw-water intake cleared; water reliability improved.
• Emergency generators restored power to school/critical facilities; replacement transformers en route for permanent grid repair.
• Ongoing shipments of generators, lumber, fasteners via carriers/contractors.
• Local catering providing hot meals; morale/productivity up.
• Housing assessments underway; inventory of affected homes being finalized.
• AKARNG CH-47 removed displaced 1,500-gallon fuel tank threatening water lines.
• Additional materials planned as freeze-up progresses.

11/06/2025

• SEF (Statewide Equipment Fleet) is continuing the Materials procurement effort and coordinating with GHEMM on necessary material substitutions when requested material is not available.
• No work on site today.
• GHEMM crew is mobilized to Kong in the meantime.
• Catering able to provide hot breakfast and dinner for crews. Big Win!!
• Removing debris blocking the raw water treatment plant line.
• Power to school restored.
• Chinook removed 1500 gallon tank from water lines.

11/05/2025

• Continued working on main power, tentatively targeting 11/7 for school and runway to be back online.
• Targeting 11/11, for Clinic and Washeteria to be on permanent power.

11/04/2025

• Continued working on main power, tentatively targeting 11/7 for school and runway to be back online.
• Delta Backhaul landing craft is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, November 4, around midnight.

11/03/2025

• Using helicopter to help set overhead power poles.
• Brice Construction is coordinating with FAA and Alaska DOT&PF M&O to restore runway lights and the AWOS electrical system.
• A 5-person crew continues boardwalk repairs.
• Delta Backhaul landing craft is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, November 4, around midnight. 

11/01/2025

Work continues on restoring overhead power grid to critical infrastructure (school, clinic, water treatment plan, airport). Brice is working with FAA and Alaska DOT&PF M&O to get runway lights and AWOS electrical system restored to a fully functional condition. A 5-person crew continues working on boardwalk repairs. Additional contractors arriving to begin work on residential homes and begin debris removal. 

10/30/2025

Power restoration: Brice Inc. continues progress on reconnecting power, including transformer work and power pole foundations, to restore direct power service from the power plant to the school.

Sewer line update: The sanitary sewage line from the school to the lagoon remains non-operational as of this morning. Brice Inc. is advancing efforts to relieve pressure caused by displaced houses impacting the system.

Boardwalk access: Brice Inc., in coordination with local residents, completed temporary restoration of the boardwalk section between the airstrip and the school, and cleared large debris along the span between the school and power plant.

Fuel transport systems: Fuel lines and power systems needed to move fuel from the tank farm to the day tank at the washeteria/treatment plant are currently being assessed.

Damage documentation: GHEMM is on site documenting conditions on structures southwest of the school.

Local workforce engagement: Brice Inc. is coordinating to hire the local lineman crew through the community steering committee and is also looking to onboard three local kitchen staff who have begun preparing daily meals.

10/28/2025
 

• Further evaluations of available water showed there are roughly 3 months of supply under current conditions, instead of only a few weeks.
• The required personnel and equipment to update the primary generator at the school were located, with an implementation timeframe of 24–36 hours.
• Advancements continue on the boardwalk span from the airstrip to the school.
• Progress was also made toward re-establishing direct power from the power plant to the school.

10/26/25

Kipnuk runway lighting has been restored. DOT&PF construction staff worked on it and DOT&PF contractor tied in their generator. DOT&PF Maintenance and Operations (M&O) will remove lighting OTS Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM). DOT&PF M&O will deliver emergency light set and generator as soon as possible.

Boardwalk repairs continue to critical infrastructure in town. School has power and the boiler is operational. 6 generators were delivered; STG will be getting them online to power other critical services in town. Tundra mats have been identified as useful in this community and will be sourced from stockpiles in Bethel.

Other updates include:

• STG crew mobilized earlier this week to Kipnuk and received freight from LAC charter 10/24.
• Local hire is underway to get residents that stayed behind onboarded and coordinated with response efforts.
• Brice and STG staff will establish permanent presence in Kipnuk as of 10/25/25.
• Brice Services will mobilize 2 wiremen and 4 linemen tomorrow, 10/26/25 – the linemen will start in Kipnuk to assess first steps. there and then move to Kwigillingok to work on grid repairs there, the wiremen will begin wiring temporary generators.
• Brice Services plumbers will mobilize early next week to begin assessing fuel piping and water utility repairs.

10/25/25

Boardwalk-STG hired 4 local people to begin working on boardwalk repairs. They worked on one small section of boardwalk connecting the airstrip to the school using salvageable wood.

Power- The main generator supplying power to outlets and lighting in all the wings and rooms of the school needs to be repaired. It was turning on and off throughout the day. Starlink was on and off the entire day because of this. The GCI generator is also on and off leaving no cell service. A emergency generator is supplying power to the boiler and providing heat in all areas of the buildings and light in the hallways but that is the only stable power source as of now. STG began determining where to put the generators hauled in yesterday to begin building pads for it. Spoke to the Department of Aviation and the facility manager with LKSD (Lower Kuskokwim school district). They flew in together assessing the power situation. While meeting with them it was figured out what parts were needed to permanently fix the generator at the school. As of now the parts are planned to be coming in on Monday.

Meetings-Had a meeting with the tribal council members, STG, and Alaska Chadux Network (Spill Response team). The tribal council members expressed their immediate concern with the sewage line that runs out to the lagoons. Two houses are on it pinching the pipe and restricting flow.

Debris- BC (Delta Backhaul Company) was on site assessing what debris can begin to be removed/burned. They have a barge that left Homer today and expected to come out some time tomorrow.

10/24/25
Team: Horwath & Douglas  

Boots on the ground at 1015. Spoke with James Paul (village leader) and STG manager Shane Oyster about teacher living conditions for potential housing of STG worker’s and DOT staff.  The main power plant is not in operation with the only backup generator in use being at the school. The teachers housing consist’s of 2 units, with 5 apartments in each unit. Each apartment has 2 beds and one bath. The units have running water and heat, but no power. The only power in the units are in the hallway’s as it’s connected with the schools power. The boiler system is running off the schools generator providing heat and water to the units. STG worked with 5 locals to get them started with the hiring process and ultimately on payroll. Lynden air cargo delivered material for STG. Six generators were brought in as well a a skid-steer and skyjack. 2 crew members of STG prepped areas for staging equipment/generators. There is a 36,000 gal water tank used by the community as the only source of water with only about 15,000 gals left and no way of treating water from the lagoons to refill it as the treatment plant is not operational. STG’s priority as of right now is to get the generators running and powering the critical infrastructure other than the school since it has power. They plan to bring out material tomorrow to establish a man camp.

10/23/2025

Brice manager and a couple field staff visited Kipnuk today with Baxley, Cutler and Douglas, Brice identified some staging areas and will have 2 hercs in today with 70 transformers, 40 spools of wire and some equipment, a barge is expected Sunday or Monday with 50 power poles and equipment.  Brice will be on-boarding some locals today and get them working directly for them. One more thing is Kipnuk has not heard anything about any water testing being done, I will bring this up later in the meeting, Douglas and Cutler will be in Kipnuk for the time being, Counter and Tilly in Kong, sounds like Mathis and Puddicomb are wrapping up Nightmute, hopefully they will be able to stay around for another site.

10/23/2025
Electrical Evaluation

Josh Coghil, Brice, was on site on Thursday October 23rd and met with the store owner and his son, who has been operating the power plant since the storm. One of the John Deere generators has been taken out of service and removed from the active lineup. It appears to need replacement. I’m in the process of obtaining the serial number so we can check on parts or replacement availability. Overall, Kwig’s primary power infrastructure held up well.  A key difference between Kwig and Kip is that most of Kwig’s power poles are installed on driven I-beam piles, while a few remain in augered holes. Those will need to be addressed.

Below is a summary of findings and recommended next steps:

1. Broken Power Pole: There is one broken pole between the operational and non-operational sections of the power infrastructure. Replacing this pole will allow us to energize the distribution line to the communications tower and beyond, which will relieve the failing generator and restore power to the opposite side of town.
2. Sagging and Downed Lines: Several lines are sagging or down. In areas where homes were destroyed, there are remaining poles that can be prepped for re-energization. We may be able to repurpose hardware from poles that no longer serve any structures.
3. Secondary Service Connections: Many secondary wires are down, having pulled down service masts during the storm. These will need to be repaired while linemen are onsite to reconnect them to the overhead distribution lines.
4. Transformers and Cutouts: Multiple transformers have open cutouts. It’s unclear in some cases whether these were tripped by faults or manually opened by local operators to isolate sections of the system. Each transformer will be inspected and repaired or replaced as needed.
5. Access Limitations: Some areas were inaccessible due to damaged boardwalks. Rather than interrupt local recovery efforts, I opted not to cross town, but we conducted an aerial assessment by helicopter to identify key areas needing attention.
6. Water Distribution System: The water distribution line requires immediate attention and repair.
7. Airport Conditions: Kwig’s airport is currently operating at very limited capacity. This poses safety risks for individuals and relief efforts, and should be addressed as soon as possible.

10/22/2025, 9pm

 Operational Summary

• Mobilization Plan:
  • Two Hercules aircraft loads of equipment and materials scheduled for Friday, pending final approval from Lynden Air Cargo flight operations. Strip inspection completed with favorable conditions. 
  • One load to depart Anchorage, one from Bethel (subject to change based on freight dimensions and weights). 
• Cargo Manifest: DOT-procured and contractor equipment, including: 
  • Skid steer, mini excavator, electrical components, temporary generators, heaters, light plants, ATVs, camp units, and fuel storage. 
• Site Preparation: Personnel returning Thursday to onboard local hires, prepare laydown areas using DOT equipment, and ready site for freight delivery. 
  • Crews will stage nightly in Bethel until camp units and power are operational. 
  • Plan to activate SREB and runway lighting for sustained on-site operations. 

Planned Operations

• Saturday Launch: Utilize Bering Air Huey helicopter (Nome base) for debris removal and boardwalk repositioning. 
  • Jet-A fuel staged on-site to maximize flight hours (~8 hours daylight). 
  • Sling operations to deploy generators to critical structures requiring temporary power. 
• Electrical Restoration: 
  • Linemen and wiremen mobilize Saturday to begin power grid and generator interconnection. 
  • Teams to alternate between Kipnuk and Kwigillingok as line sections and materials become accessible. 
  • Tracked pole-setting rig to mobilize from Anchorage once Huey clears debris along work paths. 
• Marine Logistics: 
  • Barge departure (Thursday 10/22) from Nome carrying Marooka tracked trucks, mini excavators with helical-pile drivers, loader with forks and bucket, tundra mats, and power poles. 
  • Expected arrival Sunday or Monday, weather permitting. 
  • Potential return trip to Platinum for gravel haul if conditions allow. 

Overall Field Assessment 

• Progress continues across all sites despite challenging weather and logistical conditions. 
• Local and contractor coordination remains effective, with material flow improving through combined air and barge logistics. 

10/14/2025 - Infrastructure Damage Assessment.