Airmen assist local authorities with reinforcing levee

  • Published
  • By Maj. Carie A. Parker
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BOSSIER CITY, La. --  Barksdale Airmen, at the request of state and local officials, worked nonstop from the early morning hours Oct. 31 to the evening of Nov. 1 to reinforce a levee containing Red Chute Bayou in northern Bossier Parish.

In the end, more than 600 Airmen assisted with filling and hauling sandbags in a massive effort, based near Stockwell Road, to contain the rising waters under immediate response authority.

This authority allows installation commanders to provide military support to save lives, prevent human suffering, or mitigate significant property damage when local and state authorities are not able to immediately respond to the emergency in the local community. The participation of the military is generally short in duration, lasting only until sufficient local and state assets arrive on scene and assume control.

"We worked hard with the Corps of Engineers and the Bossier Levee Board to do what we could to keep the water contained," said Col. Steven Basham, 2nd Bomb Wing commander. "Many officials on the scene said without the hard work of our responding Airmen many homes would have been damaged and families stranded. One even said in his 22 years of disaster responses he had never seen such teamwork. To say I'm proud of our efforts would be an understatement."

The Air Force has also responded by providing equipment, to include 13 small all-terrain utility vehicles, to transport sandbags to affected areas along the bayou. Airmen placed more than 100 thousand pre-built sandbags and used more than 250 loads of sand weighing more than 3,000 pounds each to fill and place more.

The response from Barksdale can be directly credited with saving thousands of homes in the area.

"I believe that if the response from the Airmen from Barksdale had not come when it did, and in the number or responders, water over the levee would have, as a minimum, over-topped in a much greater volume and caused water to enter homes in the northeast section of the city," said Lorenz Walker, mayor of Bossier City. "They not only provided the muscle power, they provided the organizational skills and discipline to immediately address the problem with exceptional effectiveness."

Barksdale has always boasted a close relationship and partnership with the local communities and many saw their response to this crisis as a direct example.

"The response was but one more graphic example of the outstanding relationship between personnel stationed at the great military installation that is Barksdale Air Force Base and the local community," said Mayor Walker. "It is not just what the Airmen did, it was how they did it with a positive attitude and enthusiasm that was humbling to observe."

According to officials, the levee board was concerned when more than a week of heavy rainfall pushed the water nearly 10 feet above flood stage, which endangered homes in the area should the levee breach. When Barksdale Airmen arrived the effort reenergized with a hope the levee could be saved.

Local residents and emergency response authorities were acutely aware of Barksdale's participation in the response and have many have called the base to express their thanks.