Washington, Oct. 3, 2016 — At least 700 spouses, children and pets have been evacuated from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over the weekend ahead of the approaching Hurricane Matthew, Pentagon director of press operations Navy Capt. Jeff Davis has said.
According to him, spouses, children and pets were flown to safety and relocated to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, adding that the operation was completed last night, and that four C-17s and two C-130s were supplied by U.S. Transportation Command to perform the evacuation.
“They will stay at Naval Air Station Pensacola until it is safe to return to Guantanamo Bay. There has been no impact on detainee operations, or on the [61] detainees as part of this [operation]. “We’ve taken steps to keep our personnel and the detainees safe and secure. They’re largely kept in solid, concrete buildings … [and] there are plenty of places there where they can be sheltered in place and kept secure,” the spokesman said.
Naval website observed that relocating family members allows the installation to minimize operations during the storm, and expedite recovery operations after the hurricane has passed.
Guantanamo Bay has about 5,500 personnel and families living and working there, the spokesman said, adding that the remaining 4,800 personnel will be in the base to quickly begin recovery efforts.
The installation expects higher than 60 mph winds for several hours as Hurricane Matthew passes, according to the website.
U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Fleet Forces, Navy Installations Command and Navy Region Southeast are providing support to Guantanamo through recovery efforts following the storm, the website indicated.
