Hawaii Wing Ready for Hurricane Lane's Arrival

Capt. Jennifer Herrington
Public Affairs Officer
Hawaii Wing

With Hurricane Lane approaching, Hawaii Wing aircrews have made six warning flights over Maui County so far, with two more pending for later today. 

Three Hawaii Wing aircrews flew over the islands of Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Molokai and Hawaii on Wednesday to provide warnings by loudspeaker along the coastline and carry out other tasks.

The airborne wing members also worked to count residents who might need to be moved to higher ground, as well as to identify hazards, unsecured vessels and populations in order to target storm response efforts.

As of Thursday, aircrews had flown 11 hours in responding to Lane's approach. Similar flights totaling about four hours followed this morning over Kauai

Ten wing aircraft located throughout the islands have been secured in anticipation of the hurricane's arrival. An incident command post has been set up on the Big Island as the wing's mission base.

After the storm's passage, Civil Air Patrol expects to be called on by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out damage assessment flights.

The Pacific Region has activated an incident management assistance team to assist the Hawaii Wing during the hurriance response. The region team is intended to augment the wing’s Incident Command System team with incident management personnel and airborne photographers.

U.S. Air Force personnel from the Pacific Liaison Region are supporting the region and wing response.

The region team is tentatively scheduled for deployment to Hawaii on Monday, after storm conditions are favorable for the team’s safe arrival and when Hawaii Wing staff are likely to require respite from their duties.

“Let’s be clear that we are not going over there to take over operations, but to help our Hawaii Wing members accomplish their mission,” Col. Timothy Hahn, Pacific Region vice commander, told team members.