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Well, not yet, but the flooding here in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa has caused a lot of damage.....

 

https://www.omaha.com/news/military/air-force-gives-up-fight-to-stop-water-at-offutt/article_631f9b34-5271-50e8-b5eb-19f488daaf32.html?fbclid=IwAR0-2zkaxDgAXo8kX0E-FCWv1cn22UZcZJQOJvRIwRDaOy8lyXVBtuEVsec

 

Some of the planes have been sent to Lincoln, NE to continue operations, most of the flooding has been confined to the SE part of the base, including the runways.

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Sounds like it's getting much worse.  A good chuck of the base (including the E-4 hanger) is underwater.  The aircraft that couldn't fly out are all clustered at the far end of the field.   The water continues to rise.

 

Not sure I see the logic in building a massive network of underground command posts in an area that's prone to flooding.   But hey, that's just me.

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Flooding hasn't been that much of a problem in the past as far as I remember and the threat of a nuke attack was far more possible during the cold war.  I had a chance to volunteer to be assigned to the S.A.C. elite back in the early 70s, but I turned it down.  I had seen pictures of those guys, berets, cross draw weapons with stag handles, white ascots and all the rest (check a certain episode of Star Trek), but I decided I would rather be a regular patrol cop  doing police work that a statue for 8 hours.  Life on a primary target didn't appeal to me either and I tried to avoid it as much as possible, usually with no success.  I was raised not far from a major instillation and remember the salesmen trying to sell my father a bomb shelter.

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8 hours ago, 11bee said:

Sounds like it's getting much worse.  A good chuck of the base (including the E-4 hanger) is underwater.  The aircraft that couldn't fly out are all clustered at the far end of the field.   The water continues to rise.

 

Not sure I see the logic in building a massive network of underground command posts in an area that's prone to flooding.   But hey, that's just me.

 

This situation is a combination of things that came together at once. We already had an much above average snowfall, below normal temperatures that kept the ground frozen, ice formations along most of the rivers in Nebraska including the Elkhorn that already started back-ups (they actually considered using dynamite to break up the ice if the situation got worse), a couple of blizzards in central Nebraska, then followed by a rapid increase of temperatures and a lot of rainfall in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa within a two day period....on a ground that was already frozen and saturated......yeah, this flood has broken records all over the state. Even the floods of 2011 wasn't this bad.

 

BTW, those underground facilities and the headquarters buildings are built on the higher ground on the west side of the base, they weren't in danger of flooding.

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4 hours ago, afspret said:

Anyone know how the B-17F on display near the SAC Gate faired?

 

I'm sure it's OK, being not too far from the gate off of Capehart Rd, which is still above water.

 

Here is a satellite image of Offutt....

2019-03-19-07_39_34-03_offutt-air-force- 

 

The airshow that was scheduled for later on this summer has been cancelled.

Edited by Johnopfor
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11 hours ago, Johnopfor said:

 

I'm sure it's OK, being not too far from the gate off of Capehart Rd, which is still above water.

 

Here is a satellite image of Offutt....

2019-03-19-07_39_34-03_offutt-air-force- 

 

The airshow that was scheduled for later on this summer has been cancelled.

 

Yikes, 2nd AF base to be put out of commission within the last few months.   In addition to the E-4 area which looks to be a total loss, there is a Weapons Storage Area or bunker complex on the north side of the runway that is completely submerged. 

Edited by 11bee
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I believe that's more likely maintenance and SP buildings.  Since Offutt doesn't have armed aircraft, it's likely not a bomb or missile storage facility, although some weapons  are stored for the SPs that could include machine guns and possibly 40 mm grenades.

 

This is historic flooding, due to a combination of heavy snowfall over February, cold temps keeping the snow from melting, rainfall on top of the snow, and warming contributing to a rapid melt that ran onto frozen rivers.  Ice jams aren't helping, either.

 

However, the water's receding, at least at Offutt and the NWS office in Valley, NE. I know they're assessing the NWS office building in Valley and have the 88D weather radar back on line.  Amazingly, it appears no water got inside, even though it was almost to the eaves.

 

Tom

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