This Week in Travis History: 1989, base helps after Hugo

  • Published
  • By Mark Wilderman
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing History Office
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  On Sept. 17, 1989, Hurricane Hugo, the eighth named storm of the 1989 hurricane season, slammed into Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The death toll in Puerto Rico was five dead, with 55,000 homes destroyed or badly damaged, 37,000 families left homeless, and an estimated $2 billion in damage. Hugo then caused similar devastation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with four dead, 45,000 homeless and an estimated $4 billion in damage. President George H.W. Bush declared Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands federal disaster areas and the 60th Military Airlift Wing at Travis was immediately directed to fly humanitarian relief missions in support of Operation Hawkeye.

As Hurricane Hugo left the Caribbean and headed north into the Atlantic, Military Airlift Command aircraft were busy flying relief missions to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The initial loads were mobile communications teams and their equipment to expedite later humanitarian supply deliveries.

The first 60th MAW aircraft to take part in the relief effort was launched on Sept. 18, originally as part of a European exercise. A 60th MAW C-141B, manned by a crew from the 86th Military Airlift Squadron, was diverted to Hurlburt Field, Fla., to airlift parts for two hurricane-tracking WC-130 weather reconnaissance aircraft disabled in Barbados.

Military Aircraft Command aircraft also delivered 1,100 Army Military Police troops to the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to President Bush's executive order of Sept. 20 for military assistance to stem the looting and violence resulting from the widespread destruction caused by Hugo. Other 60th MAW aircraft delivered food and electric generators to Puerto Rico.

However, the worst of Hurricane Hugo was yet to come.

Shortly after midnight on Sept. 22, Hurricane Hugo plowed into the U.S. mainland near Charleston, S.C., killing 18, knocking out utilities and causing an estimated $4 to $5 billion in damage. Twenty-four South Carolina counties were declared federal disaster areas.

Hurricane Hugo then moved into North Carolina, leaving four dead and an estimated $1 billion in damage. Twenty-nine counties in North Carolina were declared federal disaster areas.

Travis responded to the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo by launching 18 C-5 and five C-141B missions between Sept. 19 and Oct. 7. The majority of the 60 MAW missions in support of Operation Hawkeye consisted of airlifting troops from throughout the U.S. to the disaster areas. Relief cargo was picked up by Travis aircraft from different staging areas, including tons of food and equipment from Travis.

In a Nov. 22 message to the MAC commander, Admiral Frank Kelso II, Atlantic Command commander-in-chief, paid tribute to the MAC airlift performance in the Hurricane Hugo relief operation.

"The disaster assistance provided in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo was outstanding in all respects, from the restoration of law and order in St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands) to the extensive and genuine life support rendered the inhabitants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands," he said. "The complete success of the uniquely demanding operation demonstrated the absolute best in military assistance to the civilian community."