Columbus cleanup now under way

  • Published
  • By Rick Johnson
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) --  People at this flight training base in northern Mississippi are breathing a collective sigh of relief as damage assessments and cleanup efforts continue.

The base did not sustain any storm-related fatalities or injuries, base officials said.

While Hurricane Katrina did not pass directly over the base, early estimates place damage at about $765,000.

“Considering Hurricane Katrina was a Category 1 hurricane as it passed 24 miles east of the base, we are very fortunate with the extent of damage we sustained compared to our to our neighbors to the south," said Don Young, deputy chief of civil engineer operations for the 14th Civil Engineer Squadron.

There was $600,000 in damage to the historic Walker Center, a warehouse used for mobility processing. The center commemorates Lt. Quitman Walker, the first Mississippi Tuskegee Airmen to die in combat in World War II.

There was also minor damage to another logistics warehouse, and high winds uprooted 50 trees, officials said. However, civil engineers had the base airfield open by noon Aug. 30.

Sixty of the 209 aircraft at the base flew to another base before the storm hit. The remainder were sheltered in hangars or secured to the ramp. None of the aircraft sustained any damage.

Base weather officials recorded maximum winds here at 50 knots 6 to 7 p.m. Aug. 29, and 48- to 49-knot gusts again 10 to 11 p.m. as the storm passed.