NH Penscola Narrowly Escapes Latest Hurricane
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS050711-03
Release Date: 7/11/2005 4:49:00 AM
By Rod Duren, Naval Hospital Pensacola Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Hospital Pensacola sustained only minor damage July 10 following a close encounter with Hurricane Dennis and its 125 mph winds.
The National Hurricane Center stated Dennis' eye came ashore between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach at 2:25 p.m. CDT, approximately 25 miles east of the medical facility.
The hospital, which sustained nearly $3 million in damages at the hands of Hurricane Ivan nearly 10 months ago, developed some “new leaks and some old leaks,” said Capt. Matt Nathan, commanding officer.
The materials management warehouse, located behind the hospital, sustained damage to its roof, and minor leaks – primarily from hurricane-driven rains – to a pre-operative and recovering room. Estimated damages have not yet been determined.
The hurricane “nicked us, rather than rolling over us” as Ivan did in mid-September, said Nathan. “You don’t have to feel badly,” he told the command’s Emergency Operations Center staff Sunday evening after Dennis came ashore, “because you paid your dues last year.”
The hospital housed 289 people over the weekend for two days under stressful mental conditions, including 12 obstetric patients at 36-plus weeks and family members. There were 197 staffers and a number of unoffical boarders. Last fall during Ivan, the staff was onboard – before being revealed by ‘Team Bravo’ – for four consecutive days.
“It’s an emotional upheaval” for the staff to come in here during such trying times to help take care of people in our community," said Nathan, while having to send families away or leave them at home “hunkered down.”
Pensacola “will bounce back in a couple of days” from this latest storm, said Nathan. “From what I’ve seen of the community today” around the hospital and Naval Air Station, “we fared fine … not like Ivan when the waterline was at eye level.”
The hospital will be fully operational by July 12.
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