WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy air base in Pensacola, Fla., suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in
damage from Hurricane Ivan, the Navy said Friday.
Ninety percent of the buildings on base received "significant" damage.
Naval Air Station Pensacola is where every Naval aviator gets his or her wings.
About 15,000 airmen aviators and crews are trained there annually.
There were no reported deaths or injuries on the base. Roughly 2,900 sailors
were staying in local shelters and helping the American Red Cross unload
supplies and food, the Navy said.
Most of the base roads were impassable and power generators were fueling only
selected buildings Friday.
The base public affairs office, including the photo lab, was destroyed. The
Coast Guard station was also reported destroyed. The Naval Air Technical
Training Center was completely under water.
The naval hospital was intact, but lost 80 percent of its roof. There were no
reports of damaged aircraft.
Soldiers from the Florida National Guard were to arrive in Pensacola Friday to
help with relief efforts and Navy Seabees were to assess construction and
engineering efforts during the weekend.
Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba has not suffered serious damage from any of the
three hurricanes so far, a Navy official said.
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