The US Air Force said that it needs nearly $5 billion in additional funding to help rebuild two bases damaged by hurricanes and floods.
“We desperately need the supplemental funding to recover from the natural disasters that hammered Tyndall and Offutt,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said at a speech at the Heritage Foundation Wednesday, referring to installations in Florida and Nebraska that were damaged by a hurricane and flooding.
Tyndall Air Force Base, located just east of Panama City, Florida, was badly damaged by Hurricane Michael in October of last year, and Offutt Air Force Base, just south of Omaha in Nebraska, was flooded earlier this month.
Damage at Tyndall Air Force Base from Hurricane Michael
Related link:
- Repairing Tyndall Air Force base & F-22 will easily top a billion dollars
- Offutt Air Force Base Offutt AFB Home Of Strategic Command Of The USAF’s Is Flooding, 60 buildings damaged
“These are just the first decisions that we had to make yesterday,” Wilson said, adding that “61 projects in 18 states are not going to happen because we have not gotten a disaster supplemental for Tyndall.”
The Air Force fiscal year 2020 budget proposal is for $165 billion
About one-third of Offutt Air Force Base, in eastern Nebraska, was underwater earlier this month as flooding hit large swaths of the Midwest. And Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in October.
