U.S. Air Force seeks nearly 5 billion USD to rebuild bases damaged by hurricane, flood

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Air Force is seeking nearly 5 billion U.S. dollars in new funding over the next two and a half years to cover the costs of rebuilding two Air bases damaged by hurricane and flood, local media reported Thursday.

About one-third of Offutt Air Force Base, in eastern Nebraska, was underwater earlier this month as flooding hit large swaths of the Midwest. And Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in October, said an NPR report.

"This storm, if we don't get a supplemental, is going to affect the rest of the Air Force and our ability to operate," Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation.

"We desperately need the supplemental to recover from the natural disaster that hammered Tyndall and Offutt," said Wilson.

The Air Force is asking for 1.2 billion dollars in supplemental funding for fiscal year 2019 and 3.7 billion dollars for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, according to the report, noting that Congress would need to approve the funding.

Wilson said as many as 61 projects, consisting largely of operations and maintenance, at Air bases in 18 states would not happen if the supplemental disaster funding does not come through.

The Air Force fiscal year 2020 budget proposal is more than 165 billion dollars, Wilson said.