[MilCom] Hurricane Katrina Comms

[MJ Cleary]

National Guard responds to Hurricane Katrina
By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service
    Thousands of National Guard troops from Louisiana, Mississippi and 
Alabama were on duty yesterday as Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans, 
Gulfport, Miss., and other points on the Gulf Coast with 145-mph winds and 
torrential rains.
    The Louisiana National Guard had called almost 3,500 of its members to 
state active duty as of 7 a.m., yesterday to assist in missions ranging from 
assisting law enforcement agencies with traffic control and security; 
transporting and distributing food, water and ice, conducting searches and 
rescues; providing generator support; and carrying out other missions to 
protect life and property.
    On Aug. 28, Louisiana Guardsmen conducted security and screening at the 
emergency shelter set-up at the New Orleans Superdome, where a reported 
9,000 to 10,000 local residents reported after heeding the city's mandatory 
evacuation order issued earlier in the day.
    As Katrina threatened to flood the low-lying city with water from the 
Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain, other Louisiana Guardsmen were 
setting up other shelters, helping state police with evacuations and 
preparing to support relief operations in the hurricane's aftermath.
    Army Lt. Col. Pete Schneider reported a successful evacuation from the 
city, crediting the Louisiana Guard's partners in neighboring states for 
carrying out "a coordinated effort" that incorporated lessons learned from 
past evacuations. Schneider said during an interview yesterday with Fox News 
the state stood ready to house evacuees at the Superdome "for as long as it 
takes," reporting that although the massive structure's protective lining 
tore in the hurricane's Category 4 winds, the roof itself appears to be 
intact.
    The Florida National Guard, just wrapping up its own emergency response 
to Katrina when it crossed the South Florida peninsula Aug. 25, was 
preparing to ship 1,000 cots to Louisiana to augment those provided by the 
Louisiana Guard.
    In Mississippi, nearly 900 Army and Air Guard members were on active 
duty, with as many as 600 more expected to join them by the day's end, to 
support what Army Lt. Col. Tim Powell called the worst storm to hit the 
state in more than 30 years. Powell said the Guardsmen will help conduct the 
"huge mission" of removing debris from roadways, distributing water and ice 
until power is restored and doing "whatever we can to help the citizens of 
Mississippi."
    Engineer teams assigned to three emergency operations centers on the 
Gulf Coast were also expected to provide search-and-rescue support and 
assist with evacuations in flooded areas, he said.
    The Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Arkansas National Guards were working 
together to provide four UH-60 Black Hawk and three CH-47 Chinook 
helicopters requested by Mississippi.
    An estimated 160 Alabama National Guardsmen were on duty in the southern 
part of the state, where they pre-positioned generators and trucks and 
helped with sandbagging and other disaster response operations, officials 
there reported.
    The National Guard activated its Emergency Operations Center in Mobile, 
with support from the 711th Signal Battalion and the 226th Area Support 
Group. Officials said Army and Air National Guardsmen were also monitoring 
the hurricane and emergency response operations from the Guard's Joint 
Operations Center in Montgomery.
    Although not on active duty at this time, Alabama has about 9,000 more 
Guardsmen available to respond to disaster relief operations in Alabama as 
well as neighboring states, as required, officials said.
    Meanwhile, the Arkansas National Guard was preparing to open an armory 
in Monticello with 100 cots and blankets for people seeking shelter from 
Hurricane Katrina, officials reported. The Guard sent another 100 cots and 
blankets to Lake Village to be set up in a local high school. Although the 
Arkansas National Guard was not on an official alert status as of yesterday 
morning, officials said more than 9,000 soldiers and airmen were standing 
ready and available should the need arise.
    At Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather 
Reconnaissance Squadron was busy tracking Katrina for the National Hurricane 
Center in Miami. Crews were launching aircraft at regular intervals for 
missions that typically last eight to 12 hours, during which they collect a 
full range of weather measurements.
    On another level of assistance, the Coast Guard closed ports and 
waterways along the Gulf Coast Aug. 28 and evacuated its own people and 
resources out of harm's way in anticipation of Katrina's landfall yesterday. 
Coast Guard aircraft, small boats, patrol boats and cutters were positioned 
in around the region, prepared to conduct immediate post-hurricane search, 
rescue and humanitarian aid operations, waterway impact assessments and 
waterway reconstitution operations, officials reported.