Fla. AFBs preparing for Dorian

Air Force bases across most of Florida are preparing for Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to make landfall as a Cat 4 storm Sept. 2. The National Hurricane Center has said that there is an “increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida east coast,” but that it was too soon to say where the worst damage will occur. Patrick AFB, Fla., declared Hurricane Condition 4, and is expecting surface winds in excess of 50 knots at the base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. HURCON alerts are on a 1-5 scale, with five being the least urgent. Homestead AFB, Fla., near Miami, was at HURCON 3 on Aug. 29. MacDill AFB, on the west coast of Florida, wsas at HURCON 5 on Aug. 28, and is evacuating some of its KC-135s to McConnell AFB, Kan. The Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., has flown several missions into the storm earlier this week after deploying to Curacao, and are expected to relocate to Homestead. In NW Florida, Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field said on Facebook they do not expect to be affected by Dorian. Tyndall AFB, Fla., has not indicated any major storm preparations. Tyndall was devastated last fall by Hurricane Michael. (Source: AF Magazine 08/29/19) http://airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/August%202019/Florida-Bases-Prepare-for-Hurricane-Dorian.aspx