Lakenheath NCO weathers Hurricane Katrina

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Renee Kirkland
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, ENGLAND (USAFENS) --  Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with a vengeance. Service members from around the world watched, helpless as the storm decimated the area and left many people homeless or dead. Many people have watched the television news and seen video footage and photographs of the damage to Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., but one RAF Lakenheath Airman can tell you what it actually felt like to ride out Hurricane Katrina.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Wiley, 48th Communications Squadron satellite communications technician, was at Keesler AFB attending 7-level school the day the Category 4 storm hit. Sergeant Wiley vividly remembers the days leading up to the storm hitting land in Biloxi, Miss.

“On Friday (Aug. 26), some friends and I went to a local restaurant to eat and heard about the hurricane heading our way,” he said. “We were eating and looking at the water, which looked pretty calm; at that time the hurricane was hitting the tip of Florida and wasn’t projected to hit the Biloxi area.

“We talked to the bartender -- a local native -- who said the hurricane wouldn’t be that bad. He had a pretty nonchalant attitude about the whole thing.”

The bartender was wrong. A course instructor called Sergeant Wiley on Saturday and instructed him to report to a base shelter on Monday and to bring food, water and uniforms. On Saturday, Airmen began to board up buildings, said Sergeant Wiley.

By Sunday, he received another call advising him to report to his designated shelter later that evening. As he prepared to go to the shelter he could hear others around him also preparing.

“By Sunday people were taking the hurricane a lot more seriously. I could hear people around me packing, while others still were just chilling playing music as they waited to go to the shelters.”

The weather worsened as the day went on.

“It began raining and I started to get scared,” said Sergeant Wiley. “I packed up my rucksack and left for the shelter to in-process.”

After in-processing, he was assigned a room and watched movies for awhile before falling asleep. He was awakened around 12:30 a.m. by the sounds of the storm.

“It had begun to rain and the winds had picked up. There was no power. I went back to sleep -- under a table this time.”

According to Sergeant Wiley, more than 1,000 people inhabited his shelter. Shelter residents included trainees, families, students and single permanent party members.

The shelter provided a secure area for its inhabitants to ride out the storm. Some people even watched the storm through taped up windows.

Sergeant Wiley was confined to the shelter for five days. During that time he was allowed to leave to take part in clean-up efforts, but was required to maintain his presence in the shelter at all other times. Sergeant Wiley and his classmates were released to their home bases, and he returned to RAF Lakenheath Sept. 4.

“I don’t think the resources were there for us to remain there any longer,” said Sergeant Wiley. “The resources spent on students who had completed classes were better spent on base members who were in need of food and shelter. After assessing the damage, base leadership made the decision to release us and I returned back to England.”

For Sergeant Wiley, things will never be the same. “After witnessing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, I have a new respect for Mother Nature,” he said. “The devastation caused by the storm was tremendous. The people there need our help.”