131 personnel relocated due to wind damage Published March 8, 2012 By Senior Airman Jack Sanders Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- High winds exceeding 60 mph March 6, 2012, caused damage to one of the base's lodging buildings here. Although no injuries occurred, 131 lodging guests were relocated to downtown locations. "CE is still working on a damage estimate and is being delayed by wind," said Lt. Col. Aaron Young, 99th Civil Engineer Squadron commander. "They cannot put people on the structure until winds have sufficiently decreased. As a result, there are no estimates as to when/if people can move back into the facility." The guests were participating in Red Flag 12-3. The 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron is providing transportation to the relocated guests, allowing Red Flag operations to continue as planned. "We had a cold front pressure gradient tighten and had colder air coming down from the north, which resulted in abnormally high winds for this area," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Perry, 57th Operations Support Squadron, Weather Flight. "Our max peak for wind speeds recorded here at Nellis was 53 knots, which is roughly 61 mph." Winds at those speeds are categorized as severe weather and a warning was issued to the base, Perry said. Young said, the response was swift, ensuring first the safety of all concerned, and second, fulfilling the Red Flag mission. The 99th Force Support Squadron operates the largest lodging operation in Air Combat Command.
