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NMCB 1 Seabees Help with Pensacola Recovery Operations
Story Number: NNS040923-09
Release Date: 9/23/2004 3:10:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Charles L. Ludwig, Navy News Service
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- More than 140 Sailors from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 have spent much of the last week leading the recovery efforts on Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ivan.
The storm, which made landfall Sept. 16 in Gulf Shores, Ala., with winds measuring more than 130 miles per hour, left a path of destruction throughout the base.
“It was like the Stone Age over there,” said Chief Utilitiesman John Grant, NMCB 1’s SERT [Seabee Engineer Reconnaissance Team] assistant officer in charge. “They had a sewage plant that was out, so there was no sewage treatment; a tree ruptured a gas main – no gas. And of course, there was no power there at all.”
It all added up to make a daunting task for the Seabees, who had 49 members depart for the storm-ravaged base in the early hours of Sept. 17. The following day, 96 additional NMCB 1 Seabees arrived.
Their mission seemed simple - debris cleanup, opening up roads congested with rubble, and trying to get food and water delivered to the base’s many occupants. But just getting to the base proved to be tough enough, according to Grant.
“We got to Pensacola at 4 a.m. and literally had to weave our way through the town,” he said. “There were power lines in the road, roofs; we even had to move a Taco Bell sign just to get the convoy though.”
Once on the base, the unit immediately got to the task of clearing the major installation roads.
“(Clearing roads) was the first thing we did,” Builder 3rd Class Marco Attisano said. Attisano, a disaster recovery team member, was among the first Sailors to reach NAS. “The most important thing early on is to make the base mobile again.”
After taking a day to clear off the base’s major roads, the teams moved on to general debris cleanup, a major task in itself. “There was damage everywhere,” Attisano said. “Pretty much every tree on base was uprooted, and every building on base sustained some damage. We were looking at a lot of work.”
The sheer look of the base following the storm was overwhelming to some, according to Information Systems Technician 2nd Class (SCW) Jason Turner, a member of NMCB 1’s communication team. “I’ve never been in a hurricane before, but I figured I would find everything to be down, no power,” Turner said. “It was actually worse than I expected. I had no idea how much power that thing was packing.”
The storm’s power could be seen in the damage done on the base, one of the Navy’s aviation hubs. Initial estimates by base officials had the damage surpassing the $100 million mark, as 90 percent of the base’s buildings reported significant damage.
Among the worst hit were NAS Pensacola’s public affairs center and photography lab. Both facilities were completely destroyed. The Naval Air Technical Training Center was completely underwater after the storm.
Despite the damage, Grant said there was a noticeable difference in conditions when the first group of Seabees returned to Gulfport Sept. 22.
“When I left, there was a world of difference from when we showed up,” said Grant, who one of about 60 members to leave the area then. “I’d say about a third of the base was back on shore power. The IT guys were working on getting Internet access back in one building. So it’s coming back together, but it’s going to be a long process. You’ll know a hurricane hit there for a long time.”
The remaining NMCB 1 Seabees are expected to depart the Pensacola area Sept. 24.
For news from around the fleet, visit the Navy NewsStand at www.news.navy.mil.
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