This Monday, October 7, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) evacuated six KC-135 refueling aircraft from the state of Florida to avoid the damage caused by Hurricane Milton. Specifically, with forecasts indicating a Category 5 storm directly passing over them, both MacDill Air Force Base and Patrick Space Force Base had to activate their alerts and respond accordingly.
It is worth noting that this is the second evacuation of the month, as just two days ago, the KC-135s from the 6th Air Refueling Wing had returned to MacDill. This previous evacuation was prompted by Hurricane Helene, which caused severe flooding around the base, power outages, and disruptions to basic services for up to five days. In both cases, the U.S. Air Force only kept “mission-essential personnel” on base, according to Colonel Ed Szczepanik, commander of the wing.
Following the storm’s passage over MacDill Air Force Base, weather forecasts predicted similar outcomes for the previously mentioned Patrick Space Force Base, as well as for the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Although no significant assets were evacuated under the HURCON 4 alert issued by Space Delta 45, which coordinates both facilities, all scheduled activities for this week were preemptively suspended.
Among the most notable cancellations was the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, originally scheduled for tomorrow. Other launches planned for the coming week have also been postponed until further authorization from the USAF. For now, according to a spokesperson for Space Delta 45, there are currently no rockets on launch pads, and it is expected that this will not change until at least next week.
Image credits: USAF
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