Florida Navy facilities fall victim to hurricane winds
Damage from Hurricane Ivan to installations in Florida Panhandle likely to total hundreds of millions of dollars.
Naval facilities in the Florida Panhandle suffered hundreds of million of dollars in damage from Hurricane Ivan, and thousands of civilian employees were told not to report to work last week.
"It looks like a war zone," says Harry White, a public affairs officer for Florida's Naval Air Station Pensacola. "We have 3,000 trees down.... Buildings have had their roofs blown off, and there's extensive structural damage."
About 90 percent of the base's buildings were damaged, but no aircraft were lost because they were moved before the storm hit, White said.
Only essential military and civilian personnel reported to work last week because of the damage and power outages on the base. More than 12,000 military and about 5,400 civilians work at the naval installation along the Gulf of Mexico, which is Navy's largest aviation training facility.
The base was expected to resume flight training operations on Monday, and civilians, who were on excused absence, were told they'd be called back to work as soon as possible, White said.
Similar damage occurred at adjacent naval facilities in the Pensacola region, including Naval Air Station Whiting Field and Corry Station.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week that preliminary cost estimates show that Navy facilities in the Panhandle sustained more than $850 million in damage. Nelson said he is now concerned that Pensacola might be targeted during next year's Base Realignment and Closure round because it has been so badly damaged.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told lawmakers the facilities had been "very badly hit." But, Rumsfeld added, he would be supportive of rebuilding them and dismissed suggestions that the bases would be closed as "rumor."