GA Airport center for Charley relief

A good reason to try and save as many airports as we can.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America

Subject: CAA: GA News, "The Value of Small Airports: Relief Effort
Centered at Florida Airfield"
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 18:35:33 -0500
Monday, August 16, 2004

Relief Effort Centered at Lakeland Airport
By Rebecca Mahoney
The Lakeland (FL) Ledger


Charlotte County was ground zero for Hurricane Charley, but Polk County
is ground zero for the cleanup.

Emergency management officials have made Lakeland Linder Regional
Airport the hub of the state's disaster relief effort.

Bottled water, ice, blankets, ready-to-eat meals and other emergency
supplies for hurricane victims around the state will be flown to and
distributed from the airport.

"All the supplies for the state are being brought here to Lakeland and
distributed south to the areas affected by the storm," said Nigel Baker,
spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry, one of the agencies
involved in the relief effort.

On Sunday afternoon, more than 50 tractor-trailers lined the airport's
runways, ready to be packed with bottled water and ice and dispatched to
places like Charlotte County, where the hurricane hit hardest. Cargo
planes brought new supplies, which workers quickly unloaded.

More than 500 people from state and federal agencies are part of the
distribution effort, said Baker, including workers with the Florida
National Guard, the State Emergency Response Team and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Some teams came from as far away as St. Paul, Minnesota; Mobile, Ala.;
Wilmington, N.C.; and Savannah, Ga.

"We came all the way from Mississippi to support Florida during this
disaster," said Lt. Richard Albee of the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian
auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.

Emergency management officials expect to use the airport as a staging
area for the next two to six weeks, depending on how quickly the cleanup
proceeds.

After Hurricane Andrew, officials identified several locations around
the state that could become hubs in the event of a disaster, including
Lakeland's airport, said Col. Jeff Hetherington of the Florida National
Guard.

The city is ideally located. Lakeland rests on Interstate 4 and is close
to interstates 75 and 95, making it easy to transport goods to cities in
any direction.

"We're probably 10 to 14 days ahead of where were were in 1992 when
Hurricane Andrew hit" because of such planning, Hetherington said.

By Sunday night, relief workers had already shipped out 41
tractor-trailers filled with water, 38 trucks packed with ice along with
36 generators, 15 fork lifts and 97,000 ready-to-eat meals.

More trucks and cargo planes were expected to deliver blankets, cots and
other supplies in coming days, said Baker.

The relief effort drew the attention of Gov. Jeb Bush, who flew in
Sunday evening to meet briefly with emergency workers.

"The trucks out there symbolize ... peace of mind" for suffering
Floridians, he said.

The bulk of the activity is taking place in the south part of the
airport, in the old Piper Aircraft Building, so normal activity at the
airport will not be affected, said Baker.