More information -Websites recommended by the 2nd Fleet:
• Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System
• Virginia Emergency Management
• Virginia Department of Transportation Hurricane Evacuation Guide
• The Red Cross Hurricane Preparedness Guide (PDF)
• Prepare Hampton Roads
Friday Aug 26, 2011
Irene packs punch as she lands on coast
Hurricane-force winds were forecast to begin lashing the southeast coast of North Carolina on Friday night, and the core of Hurricane Irene was still expected to pass over the mid-Atlantic region throughout the day Saturday, threatening millions of residents, homes and military installations.
The National Weather Service’s 8 p.m. update said Irene was packing 100 mph winds, with higher gusts. While some weakening is expected after landfall, Irene was still expected to remain a hurricane as it moves further along the mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday.
Despite Irene’s recent turn toward the north-northeast, the Hampton Roads, Va., naval complex remains threatened, with hurricane conditions expected by Saturday night. Heavy rain is forecast, along with winds that could gust to 100 mph.
The Navy began moving ships out of harm’s way Thursday. It sortied 27 ships and subs out of Naval Station Norfolk and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek and, far to the north, took the rare step of sending four subs to sea from berths in Groton, Conn.
In addition, more than 200 aircraft had sortied out of the region by Friday afternoon, Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesman Cmdr. Phil Rosi confirmed.
The sorties reflect the Navy’s concern about the striking power and track of the large storm, forecast to lash the southern coast of North Carolina with tropical storm-force winds beginning Friday afternoon, followed by hurricane-force winds. A hurricane warning is posted for an area stretching from the North Carolina coast to the Virginia border.
A total of 38 local ships, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, got underway from Norfolk and Little Creek or remained at sea in order to avoid the storm, according to Rear Adm. Clifford Sharpe, commander of Carrier Strike Group 8, the sortie commander.
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“Getting underway is the safest place for ships, particularly where we have a scenario where we have high winds and the surge that would put the ships at risk pierside,” Sharpe said from aboard Eisenhower during a conference call with reporters. “By getting out ahead of the storm … we’re able to proceed to sea to where we know that we’ll have a safe area to operate.”
Sharpe said the ships would make an initial rendezvous “several hundred” miles out to sea that gets the sortie group “well to the east” of the storm. Ultimately, it will swing around and come back behind the storm. The ships’ return date will be determined after the storm passes, he said.
The Groton attack submarines, based at Naval Submarine Base New London, were sent out early enough “to allow them to reach deep water where they can safely submerge” and remain prior to expected high winds and heavy seas in the northeast, said Lt. Jennifer Cragg, spokeswoman for Submarine Group Two.
It’s only the third time a hurricane has forced sorties out of Groton since 1938, Cragg said. The last such sortie was in 1991 during Hurricane Bob; in 1938, submarines were forced to sortie in the face of an unnamed hurricane that packed 120 mph winds, she said.
Three submarines in various stages of overhaul will remain at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, said deputy public affairs officer Danna Eddy. Two are in drydock while one, the attack submarine San Juan, is pierside.
Another 28 ships were moved to safe havens in the Hampton Roads area, 2nd Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Elissa Smith said. Safe havens are predesignated piers that offer better protection against weather than a general pier. This group includes the Navy’s oldest carrier, Enterprise, which has been undergoing pierside maintenance.
Enterprise was moved to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., according to Naval Air Force Atlantic. Two other carriers, Harry S. Truman and Theodore Roosevelt, are undergoing long-term maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Newport News Shipbuilding, respectively.
Aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets, E-2C Hawkeyes, C-2A Greyhounds, H-60 helicopters and C-12 Horons, were flown from Naval Air Station Oceana and Norfolk’s Chambers Field to airfields in Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Florida and Nevada, officials said.
The Coast Guard also moved C-130s and H-60s out of its air base in Elizabeth City, N.C., to safe havens further east in North Carolina. Those aircraft will be the first to return to the region as the storm fades northward in order to conduct search-and-rescue and storm damage assessments.
Officials said shore-based personnel along the Eastern seaboard as far north as Maine continue working to secure hazards, remove loose debris and sandbag low-lying areas. Navy personnel and their families were encouraged to review their hurricane checklists and evacuation plans in the event an evacuation order was required.
Irene is still rated as a Category 2 storm, according to the National Weather Service. Little change in strength was forecast before Irene reached the coast of North Carolina.
Irene is regarded as a “large” tropical cyclone, with hurricane-force winds extending outward from the center up to 90 miles and tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 290 miles, the weather service said. Irene “has the potential to produce damaging winds, storm surge flooding and extremely heavy rains almost anywhere from eastern North Carolina northward through New England.”
Pleasure craft are advised to seek safe harbor. Drawbridges may not be operating if sustained winds reach 25 mph or when an evacuation is in progress, the Coast Guard said.
All Navy installations in the Hampton Roads area, including Surface Combat Systems Center Wallops Island, have been directed to limit workforce to Essential Personnel Only on Monday.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/08/navy-hurricane-irene-lands-on-coast-update-082611w/
