Looking back on Hurricane Irene Published Aug. 30, 2011 By Col. Mark Camerer 436th Airlift Wing DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Please accept my heartfelt appreciation for all of your hard work leading up to and through Hurricane Irene. Whether it was filling over 2,000 sandbags by hand, evacuating an aircraft every hour for 18 hours, or preparing your homes and then evacuating your families - your accomplishments were nothing short of superb. Leading up to the hurricane, forecasters consistently predicted Irene to remain a Category II storm as it made its way up the east coast and into Delaware. Storm models showed severe flooding was imminent in our base housing area. Even though evacuating is never an easy decision, the safety of our military members and their families was my primary concern. Fortunately, Hurricane Irene proved unpredictable by making an early landfall.That early landfall carried the positive effects of cutting expected wind speeds by half and rain amounts by one-quarter, mitigating the overall wind damage and flooding. As we now complete recovery actions, our necessary cleanup and repair was minimal thanks to your efforts preparing for the worst before the storm arrived. For our housing residents who did have to evacuate - save your receipts and remember that many of your expenses are reimbursable. Work with your respective supervisor, First Sergeant, and Commander if you have any questions on the reimbursement process. Again, thank you for your superb efforts; together, we weathered this storm!