Last week, large portions of Texas experienced severe utility failure and infrastructure damage caused by below-freezing temperatures, as well unprecedented snow and rainfall. Residents of surrounding defense communities, service members and military families continue to face challenges of finding potable water and food, Stars and Stripes reports.
Personnel returned to work on Monday to Texas military installations, many finding facilities in disrepair.
“Some people reported to work today and found flooded office and administrative spaces,” said Col. Myles Caggins III, spokesman for Fort Hood. “Overall, we’re doing relatively well because Fort Hood had electricity and water throughout the storm. But we are in the early stages of assessing. There are likely broken waterlines in places people have [not] visited. We have thousands of miles of water lines crisscrossing the installation.”
Fort Hood reported extensive water-damage to the base’s family housing, prompting Lendlease, the private company that owns Fort Hood Family Housing, to move approximately twenty-one families to local hotels.
After temporarily losing water last week when the city’s treatment facility shut down, officials from Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene says it just starting to return to normal.
“Our off-base airmen and families were most affected. We were able to move some airmen and their families from their off-base homes to base lodging to help those most affected by the utility outages with a focus on those with health conditions and families with small children,” said said Tech. Sgt. David Scott-Gaughan of Dyess AFB.
In the midst of their own installation recovery, bases are also making sure that their surrounding communities are being supported.
The 502nd Logistics Readiness Squadron at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base helped distribute over 80,000 bottles of water to the city’s residents over the weekend. Fort Hood supported a similar effort by delivering 20 400-gallon portable water storage tanks to five cities in its proximity.
U.S. Army National Guard courtesy of Capt. John Rose
