Family housing area is hit hardest
Family housing area is hit hardest
Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., was hit by a tornado Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve.From preliminary reports, hit the hardest was the family housing area where 52 homes were destroyed – 35 of which were occupied by military families.Twenty-five of those families have been relocated to other on-post housing. The remaining 10 families are on leave status and will be received by post authorities when they return to post and will also be relocated.As reported Jan. 4, there were only four minor injuries.There were 90 additional homes that were damaged and will be without water and power for at least four to five more days.Also damaged or destroyed were the post’s ranges to include on-site classrooms, ammunition buildings and towers.The Hand Grenade Qualification Range and the Military Bridging Training Area were severely damaged and it is predicted that it will take a significant amount of repair work to make these ranges operational.The 1st Engineer Brigade’s facilities received extensive damage in seven of its facilities to include damage to soldier barracks, and there is a plan in place to house 600 engineer students who are due to arrive for training.There is an on-going effort to restore utilities throughout the entire post especially in battalion headquarters and motor pools that were hit by the winds.The Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office provided the following telephone numbers: Family Assistance Center, (573) 596-0212; American Red Cross, (573) 596-0300; Donation Drop Off, (573) 596-0212.