Rebuilding of Hurricane Hunters' home begins

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Bob Thompson
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  Reservists from the 403rd Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., continue flying hurricane tracking missions from their temporary working location at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., while dealing with personal loss suffered from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Although many of their neighborhoods were wiped out Aug. 30, the Hurricane Hunters continued to track other storms -- Ophelia, Philippe and Rita.

"It is amazing to see our reservists working around-the-clock to help others while many of them have lost their own homes," said Maj. Gen. David E. Tanzi, Air Force Reserve Command vice commander here.

"The destruction is everywhere you look,” General Tanzi said. “I talked to several people who personally had lost everything except their fighting spirit."

To help get the reservists' living and working conditions back to normal, the general led a team to evaluate facilities and conditions at the hard-hit Biloxi base.

As Katrina made landfall, the Hurricane Hunters, their WC-130 Hercules aircraft and support teams evacuated to Dobbins ARB outside Atlanta. The wing's C-130 cargo haulers of the 815th Airlift Squadron moved to Ellington Field, Texas, supporting relief efforts in New Orleans and elsewhere in the Gulf Coast region.

Support teams have returned to the base and are faced with rebuilding and repairing more than 10 Air Force Reserve office buildings, maintenance shops and aircraft hangars.

The total cost for these repairs are not available yet, however, early estimates from the team suggest the damages will cost more than $300 million.

"It's not worth fixing some of the buildings," said Tim Greene of AFRC’s civil engineer directorate. "Our biggest concern is Hangar 5. The upper wall is gone. It has a 300-by-10 foot opening and a portion of the roof is gone."

During the hurricane, winds exceeding 150 mph battered the Gulf Coast base. A storm surge of sea water flooded the base exchange, commissary, base housing and most of the Air Force Reserve facilities, including the 403rd Wing headquarters building.

"Everything is just gone on Interstate 90 outside the base," said 1st Lt. Wendy Hendley, 403rd Wing facility manager, whose house in Ocean Springs lost its chimney and part of its roof. "The first day (after the hurricane passed) we couldn't even drive on the streets because there was so much wood, trees and debris on the streets of the base."

The headquarters' assessment team was scheduled to evaluate New Orleans Air Reserve Station, La., but could not because of the evacuations and preparations for the impending threat of Hurricane Rita.

"Our goal is to get a list together of what the priorities are," said Craig Branning of AFRC’s plans and programs directorate. "As a tenant at these two bases, our buildings are physically owned by the host unit. At Keesler, the active duty has been given $31 million to make temporary repairs, and we're trying to make sure the condition of our facilities is brought to their attention."

In the water-damaged 403rd headquarters building, repairs have already started, thanks to reservists stepping up to do some self-help projects.

"We're trying to work smarter, not harder," said Senior Master Sgt. Nathan Wilds, a reservist with the base's 41st Aerial Port Squadron. "Instead of knocking down all the walls, we've stripped out the first four feet of sheetrock. You can see where the mold has started. We're going to dry it out, clean it up, half a building at a time." (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)