Millitary planes from the East Coast are taking shelter at Scott AFB

Scott Air Force Base, IL (KSDK) - Escaping the eye of Irene, evacuees from the East Coast are landing in the St. Louis area - multi-million dollar evacuees.

With a storm as strong as Irene, even the U.S. military has to take cover, and Scott Air Force Base for several military planes is the storm shelter.

Nearly 20 planes in all are taking temporary shelter at Scott Air Force Base.

The planes and the nearly 30 crew members and support staffs who come with them are from East Coast bases in cities like Jacksonville and Virginia Beach.

"It's protecting the people that can fly the planes as well as the planes themselves," says Colonel Peter D. Guisti, the Commander of 375th Operations Group, Scott Air Force Base.

And Scott is not just hosting, but also has mobile, medical staging teams on stand-by to deploy in the wake of Irene, if needed.

But for now, the priority is assisting in the east coast evacuation.

Guisti says the hangers that protect the planes on the bases in Irene's path can't stand up to the expected wind gust of more than 100mph.

"So, we need to get those multi-million dollar aircraft, national assets, get them off the ramp and get them to where they are safe," says Guisti.

How long they'll hunker down at Scott depends on how bad the storm damage is. They are expecting to stay at least through Sunday.

 

o