 |
| This
is a view of the Keesler commissary parking lot as
Katrina ravaged the base and surrounding area.
(U.S. Air Force photo) |
By Tech. Sgt. Dan Neely
81st Training Wing Public Affairs (deployed)
KESSLER AIR FORCE
BASE, Miss. -- Personnel here are well into recovery
operations less than a week after the base and much of
the Gulf Coast sustained massive damage from Hurricane
Katrina.
According to base officials, those efforts are making
a big difference.
“We’re in the recovery and reconstitution stages, where
we’re assessing the damage and repairing the facilities
we’re going to need in order to be able to reach out to
the community and help them recover as well,” said Col.
Douglas Hayner, 81st Training Wing vice commander. “We’re
evacuating students and non-essential personnel so that
we can focus our attention on the operational missions
of helping the Gulf Coast recover. We’re already moving
toward Phase III, where we’ll bring the equipment and
people who have the talent, resources and capability to
help the local folks regenerate. A lot of those folks
are already here.”
More than 500 medical personnel from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency are helping with disease control and
recovery from injuries and illnesses. The FBI also dispatched
agents to help local law enforcement protect people and
assets.
Hayner also said members of Joint Task Force Katrina have
arrived to help orchestrate many of the post-hurricane
activities.
“They’re already here on base, set up with their own command
centers, and they’ll be fully functional in the next couple
of days,” he said.
While the multi-phase recovery effort may take months,
even years in some cases, the colonel said Keesler people
have already begun helping the local community by supplying
their first responders with everything from fuel to clothes.
“We’ve removed a water tower from our own system and connected
it to the local community supply, because they’re out
of water. And that was completed within the first three
days after the hurricane destroyed everything,” the colonel
said. “We also got the airfield fully functional for daytime
operations. Just 11 hours after hurricane-strength winds
left the area, the first airplane actually touched down
on the airfield.”
At the Keesler Medical Center, in addition to normal operations,
the facility served as one of several hurricane shelters,
taking in more than 1,000 personnel and family members.
But it was not easy as huge tidal surges eventually flooded
its basement where backup generators are housed.
“After their primary power failed and the basement flooded,
they lost their backup power,” Hayner said. “They went
totally black for the next two days.”
During the complete outage medics performed two operations
and delivered two healthy babies – with flashlights as
their only source of illumination.
“Two patients were on full-time respirators,” the colonel
said. “When the power went out they had generator power.
When that went down, they were on three-hour battery packs.
So, when those three hours came and went the patients
were put on manual respirators. Medics actually took turns
breathing for those patients until they finally got small
generators up and running and were able to keep their
electric-powered equipment functioning. Essentially, there
was at least one life saved, possibly two – a total miracle
in itself.”
Yet another significant event, Hayner noted the actions
of two civil engineer Airmen who braved Hurricane Katrina’s
peak winds to save Keesler’s water system, and in the
process ensured an emergency supply for the local community.
“There are so many examples of the heroic efforts displayed
by our Airmen during this difficult time,” said Brig.
Gen. William Lord, 81st TRW commander. “It makes me extremely
proud to see this community come together for the common
goal of preserving and restoring our mission and our way
of life.”
For the latest information on Keesler Air Force Base recovery
efforts, visit www.keesler.af.mil or contact the public
affairs office at (228) 377-5197.
