Hurricane Laura Triggers Military Response

I’m writing this in early Sept. 2020, and already we’ve had 3 hurricanes and tropical storms make landfall in the U.S. – Hurricane Laura, Hanna, and Isaias.  There’s no doubt about it, the 2020 hurricane season is shaping up to be one for the ages.  So much so, in fact, that the military is getting in on the game.

How and Why the Military was Deployed for Hurricane Laura

Hurricane Laura hit the Gulf Coast as a dangerous category 4 event.  Due to the storm’s hard-to-comprehend 150 mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds, thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to help support the response and restoration efforts.

Over 5,000 Louisiana National Guard troops and over 1,000 Texas National Guard troops were activated, along with nearly 300 water vehicles, to facilitate search and rescue efforts, military installation recovery activities, and removing road blockages and debris.  Several dozen military aircraft vehicles were also activated.  The military base residents themselves were issued shelter-in-place orders. 

In addition to assisting with response and recovery, some parts of the military scrambled to determine the best way to protect their assets from the wrath of the hurricane.  For example, Eighth Air Force moved dozens of its B-52 bombers out of their typical northwest Louisiana locations to safer areas.  It also utilized sandbags to help protect low-lying areas from the storm surge. 

Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, which hosts reserve troops and is located near Houston, took similar steps by moving its MQ-9 Reapers and F-16s into hangars to protect from storm damage. 

You know a storm is big when the military gets involved!  Hurricane Laura, although not as damaging as it could have been, still packed an enormous punch.  Local utilities and residents will be dealing with the aftermath for the foreseeable future.  But at least it’s good to know that the military has their backs.