Bragg restricts water use after Hanna

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NORFOLK, Va. — Atlantic Fleet ships have been told to be ready to get out to sea or find a safe haven by Friday morning and avoid Tropical Storm Hanna, now expected to arrive in Hampton Roads on Saturday.

Navy personnel and families also are advised to review evacuation procedures, according to a notice from Rear Adm. Mark Boensel, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.

Boensel set Hurricane Condition 3, meaning destructive winds are expected in the next 48 hours.

Around midday Thursday, Vice Adm. Mel Williams, commander of 2nd Fleet, set Sortie Condition B, putting orders to Hampton Roads-based ships to be ready to get off the pier in less than a day. As a rule, ships are safer at sea than tied up at the waterfront, “where high winds and storm surges could act to cause damage to both the ship and the pier,” according to a notice from 2nd Fleet.

Current storm tracks place Hanna on a path toward Wilmington, N.C., then north toward Hampton Roads and beyond. Another potentially stronger storm, Hurricane Ike, follows close behind from the Atlantic. On Thursday morning, the storm was listed by the National Weather Service as a Category 4, which could be very destructive ashore, although it is expected to weaken somewhat.

Incoming storms also could complicate the deployment of the 7,300 sailors assigned to the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, set to begin a regular rotation to the Middle East beginning Monday, with the carrier leaving first and other ships through the week.


Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/09/navy_stormsortie_090408w/

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About 80 F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and about 10 C-130 transport planes at Pope Air Force Base near Fort Bragg are being sent to Ohio to ride out Tropical Storm Hanna.

Charleston Air Force Base also is evacuating 13 C-17 transport planes to bases in Ohio and Missouri in anticipation of the storm, which is expected to make landfall Friday.

Air Force officials said departures of the $200 million aircraft and their three-man crews will begin Thursday morning. An aircraft will take off every half-hour until the entire group is deployed. Air Force officials said there has been no mandatory evacuation order given for military personnel at the base or their families.

The weekend air show at Shaw Air Force Base, however, is still on schedule.

Officials said the Saturday event will open on schedule at 10 a.m.

If the weather permits, aerial demonstrations of the stealthy F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and World War II-era P-51 Mustangs will take place throughout the day.

Officials said they also have displays of vintage and modern aircraft, such as the ground support A-10 Thunderbolt, the F/A-18 fighter jet and the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, which can hover like a helicopter and fly like a turboprop. The show is free to the public.


Article: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_hanna_planes_090308/

[CommunityEditor]

With Hurricane Hanna swirling off the Atlantic Coast, officials at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., have decided to bump up this week’s graduation ceremony by one day.

Hanna’s forecasted track could carry it toward Florida, Georgia or South Carolina by Friday, the original graduation date for 2nd and 4th Battalions, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The commanding general at Parris Island, Brig. Gen. James B. Laster, rescheduled the ceremony, which will feature 500 Marines from Hotel and Oscar companies, for 8 a.m. Thursday in the depot’s all weather training facility.

Marines and their families will be released immediately after graduation. Those without travel plans will remain on the depot and await word for a possible evacuation.

For more information call the Parris Island visitors center at (800) 826-7503 or check the depot’s Web site at http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil.


Article: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/09/marine_hanna_090308/

[CommunityEditor]

Recruits will ride out Tropical Storm Hanna at low-lying Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Marine officials decided Thursday.

After considering the storm’s likely area of landfall, strength and expected storm surge, an evacuation was deemed unnecessary, said Master Sgt. Mark Oliva, a depot spokesman, on Thursday.

Officials had been considering evacuating up to 8,500 recruits and permanent staff to Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., about 200 miles from the depot.

Hanna, roaring through the Bahamas on Thursday with 70 mph winds, was expected to regain hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall late Friday or Saturday.

Other Marine bases, including Marine Corps Air Station Beafort, S.C., and Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River in North Carolina, warned Marines of the oncoming storm and canceled events, including a fishing tournament and retiree appreciation party at Camp Lejeune.

Oliva said Marine officials were already tracking Hurricane Ike, a Category 4 monster with 140 mph winds in the Atlantic Ocean that could hit the Southeast next week.

“The thing that we need to be looking for is the storm surge,” Oliva said. “It’s a very real possibility that this island could go underwater in a good-sized storm.”

Parris Island last evacuated for a hurricane in 1999, Oliva said. About 7,000 recruits stayed at MCLB Albany for five days.


Article: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/09/marine_parrisisland_090408w/

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army officials imposed water restrictions at Fort Bragg after heavy rainfall last week from Tropical Storm Hanna overwhelmed the post’s water treatment system.

“It made the water cloudy,” Fort Bragg spokeswoman Sheri Lynne Crowe said Wednesday.

Restrictions were imposed Tuesday and should remain in place until Saturday, Crowe said.

Drinkable water is being provided by the city of Fayetteville but not enough to supply all of the massive post’s needs.

Water for Fort Bragg comes from the Lower Little River, which was stirred up by heavy rains.

Officials banned washing of vehicles, boats and aircraft, except those that can be washed at the post’s Central Vehicle Wash Facility. Equipment that won’t fit in the facility can be washed elsewhere with written permission if they are critical to a mission, officials said.

Washing of driveways, parking lots and buildings also was banned, as was filling pools and fountains. Golf course irrigation, as well as irrigation of plants for sale at base shops, was also banned.

Residents of base housing were told to limit water use to what is needed for sanitation, hygiene and sustaining life. Restaurants were told to use disposable plates and utensils.


Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_braggwater_091008/