Hurricane Katrina impacts 916th reservists

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Randy LeMay
  • 916th Air Refueling Wing
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. --  The most destructive storm to hit the United States, Hurricane Katrina, caused extensive damage to the coastal regions of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
The devastation caused by the storm has been the center of attention for most of the United States and the rest of the world. 

Five members of the 916th Air Refueling Wing saw first hand the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Four members were assigned to Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. for training, when the hurricane made landfall and one member deployed to help in the aftermath of the tragedy. 

The National Weather Service began issuing warnings for people to take shelter a few days before the storm, said Major Pete Benton, stationed at Keesler for technical training when Hurricane Katrina came ashore. 

While staying in the temporary shelter we were sleeping on the floor, said Major Benton. After being on the floor, I took some bubble wrap and made a make shift mattress.
Base officials were concerned about our welfare and safety, said Major Benton. It was several days after the storm before we were allowed to go out of the building.
We were able to go to our quarters and the dining facility, said Major Benton. After standing in line for about two and a half hours, the dining facility ran out of food. They did have pallets of Meals Ready to Eat available for those on the base. 

“We could hear the tin roofs being torn off above us,” said Major Benton. Much of the base housing area was heavily damaged by flood waters. Trees were bent over at the bottom or the trees completely snapped. 

Sustained winds of 50 mph basted Keesler Air Force Base, with wind gusts of more than 90 mph, according to officials at the Air Force Climatology Center at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. 

Although Keesler received heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina, it has been designated as an operational staging area for the relief effort. 

Keesler’s runway was put back into operation by the Red Horse engineers from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to support recovery operations. Other facilities on post were evaluated before they could be used to house displaced servicemembers and their families.
It was hard not knowing if friends and family members were ok, especially for those permanently assigned to Keesler AFB, Major Benton said. 

“You could see the importance of the local community working with the base,” added Major Benton. 

Convoys of humanitarian aid are being delivered to local towns by Airmen from Keesler who are participating in the deliveries. Airmen from other bases are also ready to support any recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina, including members of the 916th ARW. 

As of mid-September, U.S. Transportation Command continued to fly 10,000 people out of the flooded city of New Orleans to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. NORTHCOM officials reported that almost 25,000 people have already been evacuated and local radio reports indicate that more than 400,000 people total are displaced from the effects of the hurricane. Medical patients from Keesler and the New Orleans Veterans Affairs Medical Center were evacuated to Lackland Air Force Base where Staff Sgt. James S. Mathews, 916th ARW public affairs NCOIC, volunteered to help at the Reserve unit there.
The 433rd Airlift Wing from Lackland served as Joint Task Force Katrina aeromedical evacuation headquarters. The 433rd AW was the hub for coordinating the removal of sick and injured people from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
There were more than 30 aeromedical evacuation teams from all over totaling 160 nurses and technicians and 18 critical care transport teams staged from Lackland to support the evacuation missions. 

Assigned to work with the 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland, Sergeant Mathews escorted media on a C-130 Hercules mission to pick up patients from New Orleans to be taken to hospitals in San Antonio and surrounding areas. 

Sergeant Mathews explained the flight was to the Louis B. Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans to help transport people in need of medical attention to San Antonio. Two members of the Associated Press and one representative of the Dallas Morning News flew on the mission. 

“While at the airport, medical personnel were doing an outstanding job of taking care of patients and getting them out of there,” said Sergeant Mathews, “They deserve a lot of credit.” 

“We also took a C-5 Galaxy aircraft into the Louis B. Armstrong International Airport on a second mission to deliver about 95,000 lbs of supplies for the relief workers in New Orleans”, said Sergeant Mathews. A field reporter and cameraman from KENS TV 5 from San Antonio flew on the mission. 

The second mission carried trucks, water, tents, tools, equipment and many pallets of supplies desperately needed by relief workers. 

“The 433rd AW was a wonderful group of people to work with,” said Sergeant Mathews, “They truly cared about the mission.” 

A building at Kelly USA, an old Air Force Base in San Antonio, was used as a shelter for about 2,000 to 2,500 displaced people. 

“While walking around the shelter, I was amazed to see all those people that had been displaced,” said Sergeant Mathews. 

With flood waters still covering much of the coastal region, especially the city of New Orleans, health problems are becoming a major issue for the residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. 

With over a million people displaced as a result of the storm, dehydration, food poisoning and respiratory illnesses are fast becoming another obstacle for officials trying to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

There are also concerns about what may have been released into the flood waters by local refineries and chemical plants. In spite of it all, members of the 916th are happy to be home and to be helping. 

“In every tragedy, there comes goodness,” said Major Benton. “I saw a lot of people pulling together to help each other.” 

“It was great to be able to represent the 916th, helping with the relief effort,” added Sergeant Mathews, “a really great honor to help in any way.”