Staff Sgt. Erin Hollis, right, and Airman 1st Class Kaileigh Miller secure medical supplies bound for Beaumont on Thursday. S-T/Max Faulkner
FORT WORTH, Texas (Star-Telegram), September 12, 2008:
By Chris Vaughn
Air crews from the Texas Air National Guard, finally given an evacuation mission early Thursday morning, are now in a race against Hurricane Ike.
With high winds expected to ground the C-130 Hercules at some point today, the 136th Airlift Wing from Naval Air Station Fort Worth worked feverishly Thursday and last night to move as many of the aged and disabled as possible from facilities in Beaumont to higher ground in Bryan/College Station.
"We’ll run crews right up to the point at which storm-force winds stop us," said Lt. Col. G.W. Holt, a Keller resident who serves as air operations officer for the Guard’s air wing. The wing is the only one of its kind in the Texas Air National Guard.
State officials planned for the temporary relocation of more than 600 people from Beaumont, a move that would take up to 48 hours on C-130s. But storm winds are likely to shut down the operation before that many can be evacuated, at least by military airlift.
"We’ll give everybody the best chance to be safe," Holt said, "but Mother Nature doesn’t stick to deadlines."
More than 50 Guard troops had moved to Corpus Christi this week to prepare for medical evacuations, but by Thursday morning, the order came to move first to Galveston, then to Beaumont, as the storm shifted and state emergency plans changed.
Statewide, the National Guard has positioned 500 military vehicles and 900 soldiers in San Antonio for search-and-rescue missions, and 15 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are on standby for rescues after the storm. Gov. Rick Perry has authorized mobilizing up to 7,500 troops.
Aircraft started launching from Fort Worth about mid-morning Thursday, prepared to land in Beaumont every 90 minutes — all day.
"We can make three, possibly four, turns today," said Maj. Tyler Thompson, a Carrollton resident who served as the aircraft commander on one of the planes. "It’s rewarding work. These are the people who can’t get out on their own, so you really feel like you’re helping."
Air National Guard medical evacuation teams from Oklahoma, Delaware and New York staffed each flight with nurses, nurse anesthetists, paramedics and physician assistants.
They are not moving hospital patients or other people in especially fragile condition; that duty falls to other people.
The wing pulled in about 150 people for Hurricane Ike, less than two weeks after it conducted similar evacuation operations for Hurricane Gustav. Many were volunteers, such as Master Sgt. Blyane Leach, who put aside his civilian job as a government consultant in Denton County.
"It’s a great experience to see how the aero-med guys set up and work, which we normally don’t get to see stateside," Leach said.
The flying portion of the 136th Airlift Wing returned in May after a four-month deployment to Afghanistan, and as recently as last month, was flying missions in Europe and Africa.
Copyright 2008 Star-Telegram Operating, Ltd.
September 12, 2008
USA: Air crews from Texas now in a race to rescue elderly from Hurricane Ike
.
Staff Sgt. Erin Hollis, right, and Airman 1st Class Kaileigh Miller secure medical supplies bound for Beaumont on Thursday. S-T/Max Faulkner
FORT WORTH, Texas (Star-Telegram), September 12, 2008:
By Chris Vaughn
Air crews from the Texas Air National Guard, finally given an evacuation mission early Thursday morning, are now in a race against Hurricane Ike.
With high winds expected to ground the C-130 Hercules at some point today, the 136th Airlift Wing from Naval Air Station Fort Worth worked feverishly Thursday and last night to move as many of the aged and disabled as possible from facilities in Beaumont to higher ground in Bryan/College Station.
"We’ll run crews right up to the point at which storm-force winds stop us," said Lt. Col. G.W. Holt, a Keller resident who serves as air operations officer for the Guard’s air wing. The wing is the only one of its kind in the Texas Air National Guard.
State officials planned for the temporary relocation of more than 600 people from Beaumont, a move that would take up to 48 hours on C-130s. But storm winds are likely to shut down the operation before that many can be evacuated, at least by military airlift.
"We’ll give everybody the best chance to be safe," Holt said, "but Mother Nature doesn’t stick to deadlines."
More than 50 Guard troops had moved to Corpus Christi this week to prepare for medical evacuations, but by Thursday morning, the order came to move first to Galveston, then to Beaumont, as the storm shifted and state emergency plans changed.
Statewide, the National Guard has positioned 500 military vehicles and 900 soldiers in San Antonio for search-and-rescue missions, and 15 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are on standby for rescues after the storm. Gov. Rick Perry has authorized mobilizing up to 7,500 troops.
Aircraft started launching from Fort Worth about mid-morning Thursday, prepared to land in Beaumont every 90 minutes — all day.
"We can make three, possibly four, turns today," said Maj. Tyler Thompson, a Carrollton resident who served as the aircraft commander on one of the planes. "It’s rewarding work. These are the people who can’t get out on their own, so you really feel like you’re helping."
Air National Guard medical evacuation teams from Oklahoma, Delaware and New York staffed each flight with nurses, nurse anesthetists, paramedics and physician assistants.
They are not moving hospital patients or other people in especially fragile condition; that duty falls to other people.
The wing pulled in about 150 people for Hurricane Ike, less than two weeks after it conducted similar evacuation operations for Hurricane Gustav. Many were volunteers, such as Master Sgt. Blyane Leach, who put aside his civilian job as a government consultant in Denton County.
"It’s a great experience to see how the aero-med guys set up and work, which we normally don’t get to see stateside," Leach said.
The flying portion of the 136th Airlift Wing returned in May after a four-month deployment to Afghanistan, and as recently as last month, was flying missions in Europe and Africa.
Copyright 2008 Star-Telegram Operating, Ltd.
Staff Sgt. Erin Hollis, right, and Airman 1st Class Kaileigh Miller secure medical supplies bound for Beaumont on Thursday. S-T/Max Faulkner
FORT WORTH, Texas (Star-Telegram), September 12, 2008:
By Chris Vaughn
Air crews from the Texas Air National Guard, finally given an evacuation mission early Thursday morning, are now in a race against Hurricane Ike.
With high winds expected to ground the C-130 Hercules at some point today, the 136th Airlift Wing from Naval Air Station Fort Worth worked feverishly Thursday and last night to move as many of the aged and disabled as possible from facilities in Beaumont to higher ground in Bryan/College Station.
"We’ll run crews right up to the point at which storm-force winds stop us," said Lt. Col. G.W. Holt, a Keller resident who serves as air operations officer for the Guard’s air wing. The wing is the only one of its kind in the Texas Air National Guard.
State officials planned for the temporary relocation of more than 600 people from Beaumont, a move that would take up to 48 hours on C-130s. But storm winds are likely to shut down the operation before that many can be evacuated, at least by military airlift.
"We’ll give everybody the best chance to be safe," Holt said, "but Mother Nature doesn’t stick to deadlines."
More than 50 Guard troops had moved to Corpus Christi this week to prepare for medical evacuations, but by Thursday morning, the order came to move first to Galveston, then to Beaumont, as the storm shifted and state emergency plans changed.
Statewide, the National Guard has positioned 500 military vehicles and 900 soldiers in San Antonio for search-and-rescue missions, and 15 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are on standby for rescues after the storm. Gov. Rick Perry has authorized mobilizing up to 7,500 troops.
Aircraft started launching from Fort Worth about mid-morning Thursday, prepared to land in Beaumont every 90 minutes — all day.
"We can make three, possibly four, turns today," said Maj. Tyler Thompson, a Carrollton resident who served as the aircraft commander on one of the planes. "It’s rewarding work. These are the people who can’t get out on their own, so you really feel like you’re helping."
Air National Guard medical evacuation teams from Oklahoma, Delaware and New York staffed each flight with nurses, nurse anesthetists, paramedics and physician assistants.
They are not moving hospital patients or other people in especially fragile condition; that duty falls to other people.
The wing pulled in about 150 people for Hurricane Ike, less than two weeks after it conducted similar evacuation operations for Hurricane Gustav. Many were volunteers, such as Master Sgt. Blyane Leach, who put aside his civilian job as a government consultant in Denton County.
"It’s a great experience to see how the aero-med guys set up and work, which we normally don’t get to see stateside," Leach said.
The flying portion of the 136th Airlift Wing returned in May after a four-month deployment to Afghanistan, and as recently as last month, was flying missions in Europe and Africa.
Copyright 2008 Star-Telegram Operating, Ltd.
