Eastern Region Exchanges Affected by Tropical Storm Debby, but No Damage Reported
Eastern Region Exchanges in three states were responding Tuesday to the effects of Tropical Storm Debby, which moved across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina during the weekend and the beginning of the week.
South East Regional Vice President Tony Pares has been updating senior leaders on the storm, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning in Florida’s Big Bend region. The storm has continued north through Georgia and South Carolina. The primary concern from Debby is flooding, as record amounts of rainfall are predicted for the states’ coasts and rain is expected to linger till at least Thursday.
Storm surge is also a concern in coastal areas. High winds and isolated tornadoes are also possible, according to the National Weather Service.
“It looks like the biggest impact is the closure of Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field,” Pares told the Exchange Post early Tuesday, when the joint installation was closed for a second day, with the exception of the Fort Stewart Marne Express and the Hunter Corner Express, which were opened for limited hours Tuesday at command’s request.. “Everything else in the area is back to normal and open. We still have some more rain from the storm forecast for today, but as of now, everything else is good.”
Pares added that on Monday, Exchange officials were able to drive by Stewart/Hunter AAF Exchange facilities and everything appeared to be in working order. So far, no damage has been reported at South East Region stores.
Pares also provided leaders updates on these Exchanges and installations:
- MacDill AFB, in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area of Florida, was closed Sunday but reopened Monday, with most operations running by 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The exception was fuel, which was affected by flooding.
- Moody AFB in southeast Georgia was closed Monday, including all Exchange operations. It was expected to reopen Tuesday. Exchange operations are expected to be mostly normal Tuesday and completely normal by Wednesday. A few associates were affected by power failures.
- Fort Eisenhower (formerly Fort Gordon), near Augusta, Georgia, had a delayed opening Tuesday, with all Exchange operations open by 10 a.m. Eastern.
- Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina is on limited staffing Tuesday. The main store is running reduced hours (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern), and the Express is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Charleston is still in the storm’s path, and the base and all Exchange operations will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Central East Regional Vice President Chris Holifield said Tuesday morning that it was possible the storm would also affect Shaw AFB in South Carolina and he was in ongoing communication with command on the possibility of closures. The 20th Fighter Wing was updating the community Tuesday morning via its social media channels.
The Exchange’s Disaster Support Group has not been activated but is keeping close tabs on the situation and working with the region vice presidents. The DSG, headed by Vice President/Contingency Plans Roger Neumann, is a team of worldwide Exchange leaders that monitors weather and other world events to help keep every level of the organization prepared for storms and responsive to contingency situations.
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