At Wright Patterson Air Force Base, crews continue cleaning up damage from Wednesday morning’s powerful storm. According to 88th Air Base Wing Colonel Travis Pond they are in Area B. “We had a tornado touch down here on base," says Pond. "The best take away is that no personnel were injured, we had no reports of injuries.”
Powerful straight winds partially ripped off the facing of two historic WWII era storage hangars. A team of 17 plus volunteers use these hangars to restore Air Force artifacts for the Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
David Tillotson is the museum's director. He says external doors are twisted and layers of one outer wall are missing. Estimated repair costs are unknown.
Meanwhile, Tillotson says the military items stored inside are safe. “The aircraft and artifacts inside are relatively undamaged. Basically everything inside the building survived and we anticipate being open for business all through the weekend,” says Tillotson.
According to Tillotson, during WWII inside these hangers, B-29's were modified for the atomic mission.
Strewn on the ground outside the hangers– is a stripped down F104 Star Fighter, several jet engines and other parts. Tillotson says these items were previously slated to be junked. In other parts of the base, an entrance gate and other buildings sustained minor damage. Downed power lines have been repaired.
