Base recovery efforts already showing results Published Oct. 16, 2006 By Tech. Sgt. Dan Neely 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KESSLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AETCNS) -- Personnel here are well into recovery operations less than a week after the base and much of the Gulf Coast sustained massive damage from Hurricane Katrina. According to base officials, those efforts are making a big difference. "We're in the recovery and reconstitution stages, where we're assessing the damage and repairing the facilities we're going to need in order to be able to reach out to the community and help them recover as well," said Col. Douglas Hayner, 81st Training Wing vice commander. "We're evacuating students and non-essential personnel so that we can focus our attention on the operational missions of helping the Gulf Coast recover. We're already moving toward Phase III, where we'll bring the equipment and people who have the talent, resources and capability to help the local folks regenerate. A lot of those folks are already here." More than 500 medical personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are helping with disease control and recovery from injuries and illnesses. The FBI also dispatched agents to help local law enforcement protect people and assets. Colonel Hayner also said members of Joint Task Force Katrina have arrived to help orchestrate many of the post-hurricane activities. "They're already here on base, set up with their own command centers, and they'll be fully functional in the next couple of days," he said. While the multi-phase recovery effort may take months, even years in some cases, the colonel said Keesler people have already begun helping the local community by supplying their first responders with everything from fuel to clothes. "We've removed a water tower from our own system and connected it to the local community supply, because they're out of water. And that was completed within the first three days after the hurricane destroyed everything," the colonel said. "We also got the airfield fully functional for daytime operations. Just 11 hours after hurricane-strength winds left the area, the first airplane actually touched down on the airfield." At the Keesler Medical Center, in addition to normal operations, the facility served as one of several hurricane shelters, taking in more than 1,000 personnel and family members. But it was not easy as huge tidal surges eventually flooded its basement where backup generators are housed. "After their primary power failed and the basement flooded, they lost their backup power," Colonel Hayner said. "They went totally black for the next two days." During the complete outage medics performed two operations and delivered two healthy babies - with flashlights as their only source of illumination. "Two patients were on full-time respirators," the colonel said. "When the power went out they had generator power. When that went down, they were on three-hour battery packs. So, when those three hours came and went the patients were put on manual respirators. Medics actually took turns breathing for those patients until they finally got small generators up and running and were able to keep their electric-powered equipment functioning. Essentially, there was at least one life saved, possibly two - a total miracle in itself." Yet another significant event, Colonel Hayner noted the actions of two civil engineer Airmen who braved Hurricane Katrina's peak winds to save Keesler's water system, and in the process ensured an emergency supply for the local community. "There are so many examples of the heroic efforts displayed by our Airmen during this difficult time," said Brig. Gen. William Lord, 81st TRW commander. "It makes me extremely proud to see this community come together for the common goal of preserving and restoring our mission and our way of life." For the latest information on Keesler Air Force Base recovery efforts, visit www.keesler.af.mil or contact the public affairs office at (228) 377-5197.