Evening star., 1927-11-18
NAVY AIR STATION
RUSHES CLEANUP
Loss Tentatively Put at Near
$500 .O0O--Nine Planes Are
Destroyed.

the Naval Air station, An1coSt}a. u
day is working With NiGor at the task
Of clearing away tons Of debris result
ms from the storm which A"a't u
serious blow to the air base inturin-
i enlisted mon and causing thousands
Cf dollars damage 10 buildings and arr
Craft
An efforts are being eNertrd coward
maNine the quarters ocCllr'"d ~ the
enlisted men hahiiahte al rem"NIn%
Instructions 70 important living artlNl-
ties that cannot suffer much dtiaH,
While the work is going on, boar"
of investigation is inquIrins into me
extent of the damage and Will report
Its f~"ircs To the Navy DenAi tn1ehi.
probably tomorrow. II was NiTni'P"
foday to have all testimony IN the
record before sundoWn.
Loss Put at S30O000
OnIy one estimate of the damage
wrought to property was aNat0b'a to-
dav in view of the board inNfsllca,
tinn. This was arrived = late last
night on the basis OF reports recelVnd
bv Lieut.. Comdr. Homer {. Wick,
commanding the station. Wh" tenta-
tiyo}v placed it Mt cipsa 10 S2ne.poo.
The damage 10 property was @SthnaI"d
at S73.00 with the possibility thai
this figure would greatly Increase
damage ia nine airrlanes vas placed
at $50 600 While the amcunt nceeS-
sary to replace these air~r@'t. most
of which are total 'Washouts' was
given as sl400 600.
The board Of investigation is headed
by Lieut.. Comdr. y. G. Watson, eN-
ecutive officer Of the station: Il'u{.
w. G. Tomlinson. Photographic ofeet'
Lieut.. Bernard ". Litch. radio officer,
end Chief Boatswain w. c. Flt2pat'
rick.
% Miles an Hour Recorded.
The wind tore through the station
Yesterday afternoon at recorded Ie'
iocitv Of o. miles per hour, hut aerolo-
cis.s exnlained that the instrumentS
were unable 10 record the b"td
strength of the blow, which they eSb-
mated was well in excess OF lno mites
ror hour. The oncoming storm WAS
SIGHTED between Alexandria and the
east bank of the river. 4 funnel-Shaped
cloud at an altitude of about 400 feet.
Midway between the two points men
tioned. the storm took on tornado pro-
portions. il was stated today hY WIT
nossos hut before it struck the sta
tion. however it had emerged from
that classification.
The terrific roar. described by one
witness as comparable 10 gl-anic
waterfall. was so deafening that the
noise OF falling buildings. cracklln"
sheet metal and crashing beams was
6oadenad 1t lasted but two minutes
and when officers and men emerged
from places sought for protection they
found the estire aspect of the station
changed By freak of fortune the
ccmparatively fragile hangers of the
Army Air Corps at Boiling Field re-
mainad unscratchod.
Seventeen buildings. most Of them
frame in structure and old in point of
service, suffered damage frcm the
storm. The most seriously damaged
building was the seaplane hangar
farther south on the field. whose sides
We're torn off and roof unrolled. 1t
was in this hangar that nine airplanes
and the only airplanes on the station
affected by the storm were damag ged-
some beyond repair and others less
seriously.
Property Is Tabulated.
Following is the tabulation of prop
erty as reported 10 Comdr. Wick:
Building No. 80. roof partly torn
away: building No. 13. kitchen. loft.
demolished. an unknown number of
pigeons killed: building No. y. en-
listed mems barracks, roof and porch
destroyed: building No. 26, enlisted
mems barracks, partly demolished:
building No o5. enlisted mems bar
racks, roof and sides wrecked build
ing No. "A. barracks, roof partially
destroyed: building No. SO, armorv.
roof demolished; building No. 81, land
plane hangar at north end OF field,
roof partially destroyed; building No.
a.. large seaplane hangar, part Of
roof and siding wrecked; building No.
% large seaplane hangar, entire
structure seriously damaged, roof and
sides torn off.
Btilding No. 66. storeroom part of
roof and siding torn off; building No.
81, carpenter shop, smokestack blown
down, siding and roofing party dam
aged. building No. 4. motor test build
ing, building No. sc. fabric shop and
administration building. all slightly
Dana eed; building No 81. motor store
room. roof partly demolished; build
ing NJ, 40. Photographic hut. brick
smokestack blown down on roof of
building No. 55. post office damaged
about roof and siding. All electric
wiring and poles likewise were seri-
qusiy damaged.
Upon the offer of the Army airmen
at Boiling Field to assist The Navy
airrcen in putting the station in order,
Condr. Wick accepted the service of
four huge Army trucks rendered by
Maj. Harvey r s. Burweli, comman nd
ing the base. and these together with
three similar Navy trucks. worked
under the direction of Lieut.. F. w
a..rvSy, in ,..-1+i ln1A, ta