CBC Information

We got this from John's chief. It came from the CO down at the base to the CO up here at John's base. I am including the information that seems pertinent to our knowledge of the conditions down there.

Admirals/Chief: I sent a very short message sitrep yesterday evening and will send another more detailed message updayte later this evening. In the interim I wanted to give you all a quick unofficial update on what's happening and send you a few photos since we got limited email connectivity was restored earlier this morning through a DSN phone circuit (thanks to the CNRSE IT folks and EDS). Phone connectivity continues to be problematic - DSN has been reliable but local off base service and long distance is not functional.

Facility Status: We've got Seabees clearing our roads from trees and power poles/lines to make it safe to drive throughout the base. I believe we'll have most of that done today. Assessment teams are working throughout the base to better determine the extent of the damages. We have significant damages that will likely total in the tens of millions of dollars. SOUTHDIV already has gotten CONCAP leadership on board here (thanks CAPT Raines!) and they will be working on the following priorities: power distribution and generation, damage assessment, temporary roofs and lastly debris removal. Mississippi Power is bringing in 4000 people to work the distribution system problems throughout the area. They don't know how long it will take to get power restored but they think it's months. Based on that I asked CAPT Walden this morning to work with NAVFAC to have MUSE units delivered here and we just got word that two 750KW units are on their way and will be here tomorrow (thanks Paul!). We're working alternative power generation/distribution plans now and are planning for a long term temporary solution...

Quality of Life: We have ~ 1277 # ofo people in shelters. Our galley is serving meals as of lunchtime today using paper plates, etc. We've opened the galley to everyone. The Commissary suffered major damamge and will not be operational for many months. NEX doesn't appear to be seriously damaged and we are hoping to open it later this week. There is some family housing damage but our preliminary tour indicates most homes are livable. Showers are being erected in three locations across the base and porta potties placed strategically around housing to allow housing residents to return to their homes later today. We're also establishing laundrys. Because the community has no sewer capacity right now (estimated to be repaired in about a week) we need to not push sewage to them, so we will secure water to family housing and they will use our shower/laundry facilities that outlet to leach fields we are constructing. Once we have the MUSE generators up and running tomorrow we will be able to reopen our barracks. We are working on establishing a disaster assistance center (Legal claims, USAA, Navy & Marine Corps Relief, Red Cross, FFSC counseling, etc) and our goal is to have it open in one of our warehouses beginning tomorrow. NAVHOSP Pensacola is also looking at sending us additional medical staff and medicinals...

Lastly, I want to let you all know that while I have not yet been out to see everything (I plan to do some checks later today) that based on the eyewitness reports I have so far that the Gulf Coast has been hit secerely and the devastation is catastrophic. For those of us familiar with the area, to try to paint a picture of what has happened - most facilities south of the railroad tracks from Bay St. Louis through Biloxi have been destroyed.