CAP Wings Now Preparing For Ike
Members of the Civil Air
Patrol’s Louisiana Wing continued Hurricane Gustav damage
assessment missions Monday with seven new photo sites, primarily
for the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals. To date,
the wing has flown four days, 42 sorties and more than 83 hours in
CAP Cessna 172s and 182s to photograph dams, river locks, power
plants, power lines and gas plants.
Additional missions have been flown for the Governor’s
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the
Louisiana Air National Guard. The Louisiana Wing moved its
operations base on Monday to Shreveport, a more accessible location
for volunteers coming from across the state to aid communities
there. An incident command base also is operational in
Gonzales.
Louisiana Wing Cessna aircraft are based in Shreveport, Monroe,
Lake Charles, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. During Monday’s
missions for the Department of Health & Hospitals, aircrews
photographed damage in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Alexandria and
Ascension. An aircrew also flew a utility company employee in a CAP
Cessna to overlook damaged power lines.
CAP Lt. Col. Harry Stafford said operations in Louisiana are
running smoothly.
"Members have converged upon mission bases to assist, though
roads are littered with power lines and downed trees. They are
volunteering despite difficulties and damage associated with their
own homes," he said.
Gustav, a Category 2 hurricane packing high winds and heavy
rains, hammered the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts last week
before moving inland as a tropical storm and wreaking havoc on
upstate Louisiana. More than 1 million people in the state were
left without power in the wake of Gustav, which was downgraded from
Category 3 strength before landfall. Flooding was reported
throughout the state.
Several states away, CAP's South Carolina, North Carolina and
Virginia wings were put on alert last weekend and equipment was
moved from coastal areas in preparation for tropical storm Hanna.
The mission base was closed yesterday after the storm produced
minimal damage.
"We were ready in case we were needed," said Lt. Col. David
Crawford, wing director of operations. "The North Carolina Wing
staffed the CAP desk at the State Emergency Operations Center and
was prepared to fly post-storm assessment."
Meanwhile, CAP’s Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana
and Texas wings are taking similar precautions in anticipation of
Hurricane Ike, now a major hurricane churning through Eastern
Cuba.
"At this time, most of our efforts are in coordinating with
state and local officials, both at the State Emergency Operations
Center in Tallahassee and at the Joint Operations Center at the
Florida National Guard Headquarters in St Augustine," said Lt. Col.
George Navarini, mission information officer. "Both ground, air and
mission-base crews across the state stand ready to respond any
where in Florida to assist local, state, and federal
officials."