Military aircraft from Florida are being stored here until the storm passes.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Locally, the Naval Air Station in Fort Worth is helping with preparations for Ian.
Military aircraft from Florida are being stored here until the storm passes.
Officials from the Texas Air National Guard, and the navy are closely watching hurricane Ian’s path.
Military aircraft from MacDill Airforce base in Florida have been coming into Fort Worth since Monday.
At the navy air station joint reserve base, more than a dozen F-16 were flown here from Tampa, Florida before hurricane Ian makes landfall.
“Fort Worth is a safe haven. We’re landlocked. We’re nowhere close to the hurricane,” said William Husky, an Operations Officer at the JRB.
A mandatory evacuation order from MacDill air force base is in place.
Those pilots are now getting ready to brave the storm in any way possible…
“They’re ready to operate, if need to operate,” said Husky.
But for now….
“They’ve been given the privilege to go back home to help their families during the storm,” said Husky.
While the military base is evacuating in Tampa, locally the navy is also preparing.
The Air National Guard has their C-130 ready. This aircraft is used for medical equipment to carrying fresh bottles of water, rescuing people and humanitarian needs.
While we don’t know Hurricane Ian’s exact path, the Texas Air National Guard may get called out to help. But it would only be after the storm, if hurricane Ian makes landfall.
“I’m ready for what the navy needs me to do,” said Blake Tuttle, JRB Fort Worth.
Blake Tuttle and his wife are both in the navy. If Ian hits, one of them will have to go, leaving their two little boys at home.
“We would go there and help with the cleanup, try to help with the aftermath,” said Tuttle.
But the unknown for them, if they go, they don’t know when they will come home.
“Once you get that call to help, help anyone out, that’s what we signed up to do that,” said Husky.