Bases hunker down to ride out Katrina

  • Published
  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO --  As Hurricane Katrina devastates the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, Air Force units in the area have hunkered down to ride out the storm.

The powerful hurricane made landfall near Buras, La. -- close to the border between the two states -- at about 10 a.m. Aug. 29. Top winds reached about 145 mph, National Hurricane Center officials in Miami said.

But from the Florida panhandle to New Orleans, active duty, Reserve and Guard bases have been preparing for the storm since late last week. Bases with aircraft moved them to other locations. By Aug. 26 most bases in the region were working under their emergency plans.

“We’ve been bracing for the storm -- and any storm surge -- since last week,” said 1st Lt. Elaine Hunnicutt, a spokesperson at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Since the weekend, she said, “We’ve had nobody on base except mission-essential personnel.”

To further keep people out of harm’s way, Air Force personnel officials issued a “stop movement” order for people moving, transiting or on temporary duty to Tyndall or Keesler AFB, Miss.

At Keesler, about 6,000 military, civilian, student and family members are staying in one the base’s seven hurricane shelters, said Lt. Col. Claudia Foss, chief of 81st Training Wing Public Affairs Office.

“They will remain in the shelters until the storm passes,” the colonel said. “Sheltering at Keesler is not only safe, but it also ensures 100 percent accountability in the aftermath of the storm.”

However, the Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler was busy tracking Katrina for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Crews launched their C-130 aircraft at regular intervals for missions that typically last eight to 12 hours. Their duty: collect a full range of weather measurements.

At Eglin AFB, Fla., officials called for a voluntary relocation of people living in low-lying areas of the base, base spokesperson Lois Walsh said. The base gym is set up as a temporary shelter for people ordered to evacuate their homes.

It is the third time in less than a year that Eglin has had to gear up for a hurricane. But by Aug. 26, most people were ready for the storm.

“This time I was a little ahead of the game,” said Kathy Spillman, whose husband works at the base. “I already have hotel and kennel reservations.”

Eglin experienced a run on its shoppette store gasoline station as people tried to fill their cars and extra gas cans. One patron, Chuck Shields, said the same thing occurs ever time a hurricane threatens the base.

“People are panicking, but I don’t think it’s going to be that bad,” said Mr. Shield, who works at the base medical group.

By afternoon Aug. 29, Mr. Shields might have been right. The hurricane’s force weakened as it headed north through Mississippi and its wind dropped to 95 mph. And National Hurricane Center officials predict Katrina could be a tropical storm by later in the evening.

However, hurricane force winds could persist as the storm moves into the central part of the state and into Alabama by the morning of Aug. 30. Tropical storm force winds will accompany the center overnight Aug. 29 and Aug. 30 as it moves into central Tennessee.

At Eglin, “A ‘ride-out team’ will remain on duty at the base for the duration of the storm,” Ms. Walsh said.

Similar teams are on duty at all bases along the hurricane’s path. But they will remain in shelters until the storm passes. Until then, “nobody on base can do a damage assessment,” Lieutenant Hunnicutt said.

By Aug. 30, officials at the bases said people will be back to work. And Air Force officials are ready to help in the aftermath of the storm.

At Barksdale AFB, La., the Federal Emergency Management Agency has set up a Federal Mobilization Center. The center will house emergency vehicles for use in hurricane relief operations in the area.

“We’ll have the main FEMA vehicle staging yard for the next few weeks,” said Staff Sgt. Andrea Knudson, a Barksdale spokesperson. “These are the people who will go into the disaster areas to help.”

The sergeant said word has spread that FEMA is setting up shop at the base. As a result, she said people have already come to the base to ask how they can help with relief operations. (Contributing to this report: Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service; Sarah McCaffrey, 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs; and Kevin Roth, senior meteorologist, The Weather Channel)