September 12, 2005: Hurricane Katrina not only devastated New Orleans, and nearby coastal areas, it also directly impacted over 20,000 military personnel, dependents and military retirees living in the area. Most lost their homes, and some were injured. The effected areas, in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi included the following localities (by ZIP codes); Mobile, Alabama (365XX to 366XX), Meridian, Mississippi (369XX to 393XX), Hattiesburg, Mississippi (394XX), Gulfport, Mississippi (395XX), McComb, Mississippi (396XX), New Orleans, Louisiana (700XX to 701XX), Houma, Louisiana (703XX), and Mandeville, Louisiana (704XX). Keesler Air Force Base, outside Biloxi, Mississippi, took a direct hit, and will be closed for months, at least, to repair the damage. | They are not accepting new students until at least March. Also word has come down that Keesler will be a "unaccompanied tour" for the next 2-3 years. Housing areas took the biggest hit, as well as the exchange and commisary. |
Keesler may simply be shut down permanently. | Don't think so. Technical training facilities look like they took minimal damage, airfield is still in operation. |
Several other smaller military installations were similarly damaged. There were some military operations inside New Orleans as well, that were hit hard. Part of the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command was there, along with a lot of their Internet servers. These had to be shut down. The navy also had several personnel support operations in New Orleans, which also had to be shut down temporarily, and then moved elsewhere. |