Wed, Sep 03, 2008
Says Gustav Was First Chance To Test Lessons Learned From 2005
Storms
As Hurricane Gustav bore down on the coast of Louisiana over the
Labor Day weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration said its
personnel played a critical role in evacuating New Orleans and
supporting law enforcement and military flights. Now, as the worst
storm to hit the region in three years has moved inland, the FAA is
assisting recovery efforts.
Employees from Beaumont, TX to the Alabama-Florida border
prepared for Hurricane Gustav by providing a safe environment for
evacuation flights and securing vital air traffic equipment. This
included evacuating more than 4,350 critically ill patients from
New Orleans and making sure radar equipment was operating properly
before and after the storm.
Overall, a record 1.9 million people evacuated the Gulf
Coast.
Gustav, which made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near
Cocodrie, LA, packed sustained winds of 115 mph. It was the biggest
storm to hit the region since Katrina and Rita in 2003.
The FAA says it incorporated lessons learned from those two
storms in planning for future hurricanes in the region, but the
plans had not been operationally tested until Gustav.
Gustav threatened more than 300 National Airspace System
facilities, including 13 FAA control towers. Though many airfields
were hit with floodwaters, those facilities largely escaped the
brutal damage seen in the aftermath of the 2005 storms.
The FAA said air traffic control towers quickly reopened to
support post-Gustav recovery, including medical flights, search and
rescue and other law enforcement and military operations. Several
carriers expect to resume commercial service to the New Orleans
area by late Thursday.
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