More Than 13K Troops, DoD Civilians Aiding Harvey Lifesaving, Recovery Efforts

Jim Garamone at the DoD News offers the below report:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2017 — About 11,000 National Guardsmen have deployed to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency-led rescue and restoration operations in the region affected by Hurricane Harvey, Defense Department officials said here today.

A total of 1,638 active-duty service members and 1,254 DoD civilian employees and contractors are also supporting operations in Texas. Another 1,050 service members are prepared to deploy if needed.

Lifesaving remains the priority for civilian and military officials in the state, but floodwaters are beginning to recede in many areas and resources are being dedicated to recovery operations, officials said.

Texas National Guardsmen evacuated 1,109 personnel, rescued 6,283 personnel and assisted 5,360 personnel, officials reported.

DoD officials said that active-duty troops have rescued 2,038 people in the region. The operations continue and U.S. Northern Command has deployed 100 high-water vehicles to Katy, Texas. Northcom has also deployed 87 helicopters, four C-130 Hercules aircraft and eight pararescue teams.

The Coast Guard has 46 helicopters and 10 fixed-wing aircraft conducting missions. The service also deployed shallow-water boats that are assisting the block-by-block search and rescue efforts, defense officials reported. More than 10,500 people have been rescued or assisted by Coast Guardsmen.

DoD assets are also standing by to aid evacuation efforts. Seven C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, and two C-5 Galaxy aircraft at El Paso, Texas, are on alert status.

Recovery Efforts

The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting air and ground post-storm assessments and harbor surveys in coordination with interagency partners. Two dredges are on standby, with two USACE dredges in ready reserve. Corps planners are also looking to providing up to 13,000 housing units.

The Defense Logistics Agency is providing 10 million shelf-stable meals -- the civilian equivalent of meals, ready-to-eat. The agency is also providing 1.5 million liters of water a day.

On the medical side, Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio is providing medical treatment for up to 7,000 victims of the hurricane and associated flooding.

The department also set up a disaster aeromedical staging facility at Houston’s George Bush International Airport. Five C-130s and six aeromedical evacuation crews are on alert.

And more help is coming. The Navy ordered the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill to sail to the region. The ships departed yesterday from their home ports in Virginia and are set to arrive Sept. 6. They will be in position to provide medical support, maritime security and medium and heavy lift air support and can assist with the delivery and distribution of recovery supplies, Navy officials said. These types of ships were also used for similar missions after Hurricane Katrina. 

Note: The above Air Force photo of Houston was taken by Tech. Sgt. Larry E. Reid Jr.

You can click on the above photo to enlarge. 

U.S. Air Force Hurricane Hunters Track Harvey

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather Heiney offers the below piece:

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss., Aug. 25, 2017 — Hurricane Harvey began as a scattered collection of clouds drifting across the Atlantic Ocean and in just over a week it has developed into a Category 3 storm.

Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based here, better known as the Hurricane Hunters, have been investigating Hurricane Harvey since Aug. 17. The data they’ve collected every day has contributed to the National Hurricane Center’s ability to determine the intensity of the storm and predict where it could go.

Hurricane Harvey is predicted to make landfall in the vicinity of Corpus Christi on the Texas coast late tonight or early tomorrow, according to news reports.

President Donald J. Trump and his senior staff are closely monitoring Hurricane Harvey and the preparedness and response efforts of state, local, and federal officials, according to a statement issued by the White House today.

Today, the president was briefed by Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor Thomas P. Bossert, and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the White House statement said.

Yesterday, the president committed to providing assistance as appropriate during phone conversations with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, according to the statement.

Each 53rd WRS storm mission is flown in a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft by a crew made up of at least two pilots, a navigator, an aerial reconnaissance weather officer and a loadmaster. Many of these Air Force reservists travel from around the country to be a part of the mission, and only a small percent of the squadron are full-time air reserve technicians. The rest are traditional reservists who show up when called upon and put their civilian jobs and home lives on hold to fly into storms.

Monitoring Harvey

During the 10 flights into Hurricane Harvey so far, the reservists have flown through the eye of the storm dozens of times. During each pass through the eye, the loadmaster releases a device called a dropsonde that measures wind speed and direction, temperature, dew point and pressure. Data collected transmitted to the NHC every ten minutes throughout the duration of the mission.

“The data we collect is essential to the NCH right now because the capabilities of satellites and drones are just not there yet,” said Air Force Maj. Kimberly Spusta, a 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer. “To go into the center of the storm to get that data is critical, so the NHC can have the most accurate forecasts possible.”

Hurricane Harvey in particular is a quickly developing storm. After entering the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it took less than 24 hours for the system to grow from a tropical depression into a hurricane.

“As the Hurricane Hunters our data is time sensitive and critical for the NHC,” said Air Force Maj. Kendall Dunn, a 53rd WRS pilot. “This storm is rapidly intensifying. Between the last flight that landed and our flight taking off, the conditions have changed, so it’s important that we continue to send the NCH the most current and accurate data we can.”

Past Storms

Air Force Col. Robert Stanton, 403rd Wing vice commander, said that it’s important to take NHC watches and warnings seriously, because he’s seen, firsthand, the damage that a storm like Hurricane Katrina caused after it made landfall on the Gulf Coast in late August 2005.

“There were so many people that thought because their home had made it through Hurricane Camille in 1969 that they were safe,” he said. “But even though Katrina was only a Category 3 storm and Camille was a [Category 5], the amount of water that she swept up the Gulf Coast was devastating.”

The 53rd WRS will continue to fly Hurricane Harvey and collect data until the storm makes landfall. 

To stay up to date on the most current forecast and tasked missions visit 

https://www.403wg.afrc.af.mil/media/hurricane-center.  

Note: In the above U.S. Air Force photo taken by Staff Sgt. Heather Heiney the sun sets just outside Hurricane Harvey during a flight into the storm by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron’s Hurricane Hunters out of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss on, Aug. 24, 2017