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'It was a lost cause': Air Force gives up fight to stop water at Offutt...
Omaha Wierd Herald ^ | 17 March 2019 | Steve Liewer

Posted on 03/17/2019 12:01:29 PM PDT by US Navy Vet

Even the U.S. Air Force couldn't stop the Mighty Missouri River from flooding Offutt Air Force Base.

Between Saturday night and early Sunday, the 55th Wing called off a 30-hour, round-the-clock sandbagging effort because the floodwaters were rising too fast.

"It was a lost cause. We gave up," said Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake, a 55th Wing spokeswoman.

By Sunday morning, one-third of the base was underwater, she said. About 60 structures have been damaged, mostly on the south end of the base.

(Excerpt) Read more at omaha.com ...


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KEYWORDS: floodsof2019; offuttafb; usairforce
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Offutt was SAC HQ from the beginning; March 21, 1946. It is now STRATCOM. This is not the first time but the frozen ground and rapid above ground thaw with rain makes the problem bigger than in the past. Possibly reopening by mid-week. Offutt is not going anywhere and the deep state has nothing to do with the base being and staying where it is.

The HQ functions and most of the base are not directly affected. Runway is shut down because the east side of the runway is much lower than the west side. All the planes were moved to the upper end of the runway. In the near future, there will be a longer term runway shutdown to rebuild it.


21 posted on 03/17/2019 12:57:40 PM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: jz638

LeMay, as hardheaded and forceful as he was, would not have stopped this. The quick melting made keeping up with the sand bagging impossible.


22 posted on 03/17/2019 1:02:41 PM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: dp0622

Could be the result of extensive melting snow and ice up river.


23 posted on 03/17/2019 1:07:13 PM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: GreyFriar; Interesting Times

Ping


24 posted on 03/17/2019 1:12:20 PM PDT by zot
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To: US Navy Vet

My brother used to be in command at that base (55th Wing).


25 posted on 03/17/2019 1:13:30 PM PDT by Edmund
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To: US Navy Vet

Water always wins.


26 posted on 03/17/2019 1:15:31 PM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: US Navy Vet

Good thing you have squid training .


27 posted on 03/17/2019 1:17:12 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: DIRTYSECRET

No such thing as SAC. Hasn’t been for a long time.


28 posted on 03/17/2019 1:18:11 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater (Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. - Dwight Eisenhower, 1957)
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To: jz638

Come over here, take a look at what’s washing over the base, then tell us your plan.


29 posted on 03/17/2019 1:19:11 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater (Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. - Dwight Eisenhower, 1957)
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To: gopno1

Don’t you just love our “Nationals” news?


30 posted on 03/17/2019 1:19:42 PM PDT by Chgogal
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

There are multiple bunkers and aircraft that are vital to US security - flight line is not all that important - its all the other stuff - read the link I posted


31 posted on 03/17/2019 1:29:13 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Future Snake Eater

I wasn’t being flip about the extent of the flooding as much as the attitude of the command.

There’s nothing wrong with retreat or redeploying assets to another airfield to wait out the bad weather. There’s a lot wrong with having a spokesperson for the command trotted out and say to the media “we gave up.”

After the Air Force was caught flat footed in October and had the weather ruin an airbase, losing aircraft in the process because they weren’t or couldn’t be repositioned in time. It sounds like a few more aircraft are going to be damaged because they can’t be repositioned in time. All of those things are command failings.

If a military base has a few guys get DUIs in a short time span, it’s nothing for the base command to enact collective punishment through inspections, taking away privileges and holding reinforcement training in an attempt to correct the behavior of all the people who did nothing wrong (in an attempt to keep them doing nothing wrong) . This is the second US airbase that got caught flat footed by the weather in six months. Millions of tax dollars lost and wing readiness impacted.


32 posted on 03/17/2019 1:50:05 PM PDT by jz638
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To: dp0622

I actually live in Missouri—my hometown in Nebraska is the one that flooded. The water is heading down the Missouri River though, so we’ll get some flooding here, but nothing like what has happened up there. Thankfully all of the folks up there have banded together to help each other out.


33 posted on 03/17/2019 1:50:58 PM PDT by gopno1
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To: gopno1

My heart goes out to everyone affected.

Awful.


34 posted on 03/17/2019 1:52:03 PM PDT by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: dp0622; US Navy Vet

Yes. Really bad here. Highway 50 by me in Louisville, NE is the only usable north/south route over the Platte in this area.

My fiancee’s mother is staying with us as her town of Waterloo is cut off by flooding from the Elkhorn river. The roads were closed before she got off work. Her husband and granddaughter are trapped in town. Still safe and dry though.

My Brother’s place by the river in Plattsmouth is 1 of 3 houses that are still dry out of approx. 100 homes in his area.

There’s been numerous levee breaks, dam failures, bridges and roads taken out. It’s just a mess here!


35 posted on 03/17/2019 1:55:49 PM PDT by MountainDad (A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man stands up for others. Support your local militia.)
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To: gopno1

Apparently, Nebraska has more miles of rivers than any other US state. I would never have guessed that.


36 posted on 03/17/2019 1:57:49 PM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: 2banana
Any reports on the condition of the golf course?


37 posted on 03/17/2019 2:04:43 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (ui)
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To: DIRTYSECRET
Is Offut a SAC bast? If so it’s got no business being there. Deep State.

Since the Strategic Air Command stood down in 1992, I can say with great confidence that Offutt is not a SAC base.

38 posted on 03/17/2019 2:09:12 PM PDT by Interesting Times (WinterSoldier.com. SwiftVets.com. ToSetTheRecordStraight.com.)
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To: MountainDad

Dear Lord!!

Is the national guard out?

Federal emergency been declared?

All you guys stay safe!

As bad as Sandy was 6 or so years ago, it reached pretty far inland but not NEARLY all of Staten Island and it receded when the storm was over.

That down there is a nightmare.

I will send more prayers down that way.


39 posted on 03/17/2019 2:13:30 PM PDT by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: zot; US Navy Vet; Interesting Times; DIRTYSECRET

1. Have they managed to sufficiently sandbag and protect the Officer’s Club?

2. How about a couple of arc light missions along the edge of the base next to the river to create craters for the flood water to go into and thus stopping the base from flooding.

3. I’ll go back to imbibing Jameson and Guiness and suspend posting operations until either the flood ends or the bottles are empty. ;)


40 posted on 03/17/2019 2:35:35 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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