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December 14, 2005
Wet Wet Wet
& yes I was at the base on a nigh-shift, you can never stay off too long from that job and the river right outta base was looking scary and gloomy from the start, on the night track thru the gate. Dark waters in the dark that you can't yet see and shift's in, water's on the rise and all's fine. Channel's crafts are coming in from downrange. Oman and Saudi, contingency missions on their way back and crews ready for pick up, TACC is happy. Then, allofasudden hell breaks loose, levees give up, water starts flooding in, in the tons, mud, debris and, I'll learn about it later from Italian Police, people.
How good it is to work on the UPPER floors? Good. How bad to be UNDER-STAFFED? Bad. Really.
In a matter of minutes the Air Terminal is clogged by a torrential amount of water, mud and what not. Pax, Check Point Personnel and us, Air Terminal Control, swarming thru the complex looking to unplug everything, PCs, X-Ray scanners, dispensers and wall units and, shit, the Xmas tree. Strap all cables above shit level. And down. Coffee machine is gone. Which is, no main supply of caffeine, who knows for how long. Security scared by projected lack of cigarettes, food and cars. Fuel is down, no gas to anybody. Radios mostly down. American residents are being picked up out of their wrecks via boats by EOD, moved onto higher grounds. Runways are flooded, Primary and Secondary. When I call the US ATC Central, they can't believe we are getting ready to shutdown the base. You guys are flooded? Yes, badly. I'm taking personnel upstairs, Pax, airline representatives, passers by and passengers. Notify your crews they can party all night and get wasted, they are not going anywhere. Direct all aircrafts to overfly my station, we are not taking any mission until this mess is sorted out. Amen and have a dry day. It's 2 a.m.
Hours to go and what to do.
The freaking river swarming like a giant snake by our very own feet in the complex. And raining again. Dets call for fuel: T1 until further notice. That includes lightning, where do you want to go? Call my boss, partying in Naples somewhere. Shutting down, people frightened here and wet, air traffic closed, water coming in like in a jap movie from the 70's. Boss suggests try to get out. Get out how? Have 3 drivers and 7 buses. Buses: 5 stranded, 2 may be recoverable, all underwater. Maybe float. Drivers: no way to know what it looks like out of the gate. They don't want to risk, hell if I ask them. Police says stay where you are, the other river (the Simeto river) is going to break loose anytime (it did on Dec 14th, at 1700L). After this last call, general shutdown: power, phone lines, communications, the works. Calling all hands on cell phones and direct them to stay home and not to come to the area. Then we lost contact with tower. It's 4 a.m.
Boss is flying down to find out all roads are being held off by police a few clicks away from base. Water still coming. How much water is in a river, I ask. Won't hit us a story high but frightening as it keeps rushing in. My ramp has become a lake, spotted here and there by parked aircrafts.
Captain comes on something like a Humvee with two LCDRs. We're gonna try to leave, I'm sure you understand. ODO reports 2 feet of mud on the runways. Days to clean up is the estimate.
Rent two buses from Catania to base and after two hours they only make it to the closest gas station. Police holding everybody including an endless line of trucks. I have 30 people to evacuate. Drivers, stay there, one way or the other we'll come meet you. Don't you move. It's 7 a.m.
Then I get report of one of my drivers leaving the area, alone, on a Fiat Cinquecento. Does this not give me shivers? He made it, making the case for the other two to look silly. And it works. They recover two vans, a Mercedes and a Ford, 18 seats each, out of the new-formed sea, working the cables half submerged in the mess and out on the streets cutting the mud like butter. Say goodbye, jump into the vans, cross the gate and over something that looks like Mississippi, meet the boss at the intersection where all vehicles are being held, including several workers injured in the flood, and jump on the big bus back home. For a while we are going thru flatlands of plain water and mud. It's 10 a.m. and I think I've never seen anything quite like this.
And off for a few days, on a fairly dry and mud-free environment. Grace, when you'll see what your Air Terminal looks like now, just take a deep breath. Nature has issues, you know?
After all, so much for the excitement, we did good. Jose', Larry, call up the cleaners and shell out some extra money to them. Marco, how much for your little Cinquecento?
Posted by lck at December 14, 2005 11:00 PM
