Luke rises to flood exercise occasion

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 56 Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
Luke Air Force Base, Ariz --  Luke participated in a valley-wide natural disaster flood exercise May 6 that incorporated most of the Metropolitan Phoenix area emergency operations centers. 

This type of exercise was created to establish connections between local civilian emergency responders and Luke's EOC. The following scenario was produced for the exercise. 

On May 1, the report of a hurricane developing off of the coast of Baja, Calif., came into the 56th Operations Group Weather Flight from the National Weather Service. Over the next several days rainfall totals were estimated to be 10 inches and a flood emergency was called. 

The National Weather service predicted continued rainfall for the next few days. Reservoirs were filling and the flood control district reported the water behind the dams was approaching critical levels. 

In the early hours of May 6, the Maricopa flood control district alert room and other local
EOCs were activated. Operations and maintenance crews were deployed to several sites in the East Valley to monitor activity and report on the water control structures. Later, crews were dispatched to New River and McMickam Dam in the West Valley. 

A McMickam Dam failure was an imminent threat, because to Luke it sits in the direct path of the flood waters. 

This exercise mirrors the 1992 real world flood disaster which covered Luke with two to three feet of water. 

"This was a tabletop exercise for Luke's emergency operations center with no actual boots hitting the ground," said Master Sgt. Russell Fowler, 56th Fighter Wing Inspector General exercise and evaluation superintendant. "The EOC is the nerve center for all disaster related activities on base." 

The flood exercise polled the combined efforts of all Phoenix metro area EOCs. 

"This exercise affected all the EOCs across the Phoenix valley," said Mark Smith, 56th Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Readiness deputy flight chief. "We wanted all the EOCs to participate and create connectivity." 

Some of the exercise inputs the EOCs worked through included a chemical plant that became flooded and released toxins into the environment, minor and major vehicle accidents and other base specific disturbances and evacuations. 

"Luke performed well during the exercise," Mr. Smith said. "This is the first time we've worked together with our off-base counterparts to this extent and it's good to see it all came together."