Critical Air Force base floods
Group from Nebraska base cancels trip to Beale due to emergency
The widespread flooding that continues to cause damage across the Midwest has crippled part of a critical Air Force base in Nebraska, where the military would coordinate a response to a nuclear attack.
One-third of Offutt Air Force Base is underwater, and about 60 structures there have been flooded, according to 55th Wing spokesman Ryan Hansen. Offutt’s only runway is partially submerged.
The emergency prompted the cancellation of a visit to Beale Air Force Base by a group from Offutt.
A civic leaders group, as well as the commander of the 55th Wing, Col. Michael Manion, were planning to fly out to tour Beale and meet this week with Air Force personnel and community leaders.
Janice Nall of Yuba City, chair of the Beale Military Liaison Committee, said in an email Monday to BMLC members that Manion had decided to cancel the trip. She said it was disappointing, but understood. “...We all live in a community where we’ve been touched in some way by flooding and I know you all wish their community a speedy recovery,” she wrote.
Offutt Air Force Base is just south of Omaha, Nebraska, and adjacent to the Missouri River, which had been five feet over flood stage since Friday, according to the National Weather Service on Monday.
Offutt hosts U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for air defense and the U.S. nuclear arsenal. President George W. Bush flew to the base to coordinate the initial response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
U.S. Strategic Command buildings have not been flooded; they are on a hill, and the underground facilities have flood control systems, said Maj. Meghan Liemburg-archer, a Strategic Command spokeswoman. She cited flooded roads and parking lots as the reason for the reduced staffing. The command is continuing an exercise with U.S. forces in Europe that started Wednesday.
“We haven’t even had a moment of interruption as far as our nuclear command and control mission,” Liemburg-archer said.
“There has not been a single blip.”
The base is also home to the E-4B, which is used as an airborne command center in case of nuclear war or other national disaster. Nine planes, including one E-4B, were flown off the base, while remaining aircraft were moved to higher ground on the base.
Airmen and base personnel began working around the clock Friday to fill 235,000 sandbags and prepare 460 flood barriers. About 1,600 military personnel were relocated to different buildings to continue operations during the flooding. The base ended the sandbagging effort Sunday morning.
Manion reported “minimal water recession” on Monday morning. He also noted that the Army Corps of Engineers expected the water to recede Thursday.
Offutt is one of several military bases that have been damaged by extreme weather in the past few months.
While the impact to Offutt Air Force Base is significant, it is only part of the widespread destruction in the region.
“We’ll press on and we’ll make the mission happen, but there are local communities around here that are probably damaged beyond repair,” Hansen said. “Our hearts go out to them.”