MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Typhoon Nabi stormed through Iwakuni Tuesday night causing little damage to the Air Station and its personnel.
The Air Station reached maximum sustained winds at 41 knots around 9:39 p.m. and gusts reported at 53 knots, according to Lance Cpl. Nicholas Wosko, Station weather office.
Nabi, meaning butterfly in Korean, put Iwakuni into Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1 Emergency at 9:50 p.m. The all clear was sounded 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“There was a lot of debris washed up from the high sea levels,” said Lt. j.g. Adam Kushner, facilities maintenance officer. “Fortunately, we were able to open the flood gates at the Dixon Pond to relieve some of the flooding on the Northside. When we first arrived there around 6 p.m. (Tuesday) the roads were flooded, but by opening the gates we avoided any major flooding.”
“The command was confident that if something serious had happened we would have been able to handle it,” said Major Stewart Upton, Station public affairs officer.
Local residents, however, fared much worse according to an Iwakuni City press release. Early Wednesday morning, a little more than 700 people had evacuated from their homes with many returning throughout the day. Approximately 800 households suffered some type of water damage with some houses being completely destroyed. Three people were reported missing after a landslide swept through the Hataki section of Iwakuni. Several major roads were closed due to flooding and nearly 4,000 households suffered power outages.
Ironworks Gym provided shelter for four Station personnel and all Marine Corps Community Service activities were open by noon Wednesday, except for the Eagle’s Nest which opened at 5 p.m. The commissary opened 10 a.m.Wednesday for normal working hours.
A local Japanese fuel truck was submerged in debris in the mouth of the Monzen River and base officials worked with local Japanese Coast Guard in a six-hour recovery effort. Elsewhere, support beams from the Kintai Bridge washed ashore at the new Air Station pier and local city officials were working on recovering those.