Posted on 03/03/2006 4:26:04 PM PST by SandRat
3/2/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, people here don’t take things like electricity, drinking water, housing, offices and plumbing for granted.
Thanks to a team effort, each day brings improvements in base infrastructure, facilities and utilities, as the base braces for the next hurricane season.
“Infrastructure is the blood and guts of the base,” said Maj. Jeff Szatanek, 81st Civil Engineer Squadron Operations Flight commander.
Alfred Watkins, base infrastructure manager, described the challenges civil engineers faced both during and after Katrina’s fury struck Keesler nearly six months ago.
“When the base loses commercial power, they have to switch to generator power,” Mr. Watkins said. “This caused concern during the storm, as the water pumps were then not working, so (civil engineer personnel) went out into the storm to manually flip the switches.”
Mr. Watkins said Keesler’s backup systems for both electrical power and water afforded the base critical utilities both during and immediately after the storm.
“We were the only ones on the coast with potable water, and we were providing that to outside agencies (after the storm),” he said.
Post-Katrina utility improvements at Keesler include automatic switching for generator power if commercial electrical power is lost during future storms.
“The (water) pumps now have automatic disconnects, so (switching to generator power) is done automatically,” Mr. Watkins said. “The equipment has been bought, and they have started (installing automatic disconnects) to the pumps. It will be totally done well before the next hurricane season.”
Mr. Watkins said improvements will be made to Keesler’s natural gas systems as well.
“The storm debris caused a lot of blockage in our natural gas ventilation systems,” he said. “Now, we’re installing new technology with gas pressure regulator diaphragms that can prevent blockage.”
Katrina also took its toll on base housing. Base Civil Engineer Lt. Col. Ray Mottley said improvements and repairs in that area of infrastructure are on the way, too.
“All base housing was damaged to some extent due to the storm,” he said. “We are making repairs to housing and currently have 493 residents in (base) housing today.”
Colonel Mottley said the goal is to have 865 homes repaired by Aug. 1. To meet future needs, a housing military construction project will build 1,067 new homes. These houses will be complete by late 2008. But for now, he advised in-bound military personnel to visit Keesler in advance of their designated reporting date in order to better plan for their housing needs.
“Take advantage of permissive temporary duties,” he said. “Come here early and look for your housing needs.”
Civil engineering personnel cautioned that damage to facilities and infrastructure cannot be assessed by outward appearances alone.
“Even though the outside of the buildings look okay, there was extensive damage to the roofing systems which caused extensive internal damage,” Major Szatanek said.
“Every building with flooding negatively impacted the electrical systems and needs to be reworked,” Mr. Watkins said.
The civil engineers must address all potential damage to base infrastructure, and time must be taken to consider improvements and preventive maintenance for long-term recovery from Katrina.
“It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon,” Major Szatanek said. “Bit by bit, day by day, we are getting better.”
My Mom and Dad just returned from a brief visit to Biloxi. My Mom said it would make me cry to see the beach front. She did not recognize hardly anything but she did say that the big lighthouse was still standing.
My Dad spent the night at Keesler last month. He said that Keesler, although damaged, is much better off than surrounding Biloxi. There are whole sections of Biloxi that are just gone down to the foundations. Also, alot of the old oaks can still be seen sticking halfway out of the water in the sound off shore.
I read the headline too quickly.
Thought the Keebler elves were doing a bang up job.
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