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Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base Inundated by Floodwaters

11:05, Tuesday, 19 March, 2019
Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base Inundated by Floodwaters

Flooding from the Missouri River has shut down the runway and inundated 30 buildings at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Nebraska.

Offutt is home to U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees America's strategic nuclear forces, and the 55th Wing.

It's the second U.S. air base to suffer damage in a natural disaster in less than six months. Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida was forced to close for two months after Hurricane Michael devastated the base on Oct. 10.

Offutt was restricted to "mission essential personnel" on Sunday after about a third of the facility was cut off by rising floodwaters.

Thirty buildings have been inundated with as much as 8 feet of water, Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake, a 55th Wing spokeswoman, told the Omaha World-Herald. Another 30 buildings have been damaged. There are 200 buildings on the base.

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