It rips apart everything in its path. It destroys houses, businesses, lives and families. These past couple of weeks, America has been greatly devastated by it.

Capt. Jeff Wright, a U-2S aircraft commander with the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron, is one of few Airmen who was able to see the vast devastation of Hurricane Katrina from a bird’s point of view.

Captain Wright flew a U-2 to take pictures of alternate routes out of cities where citizens were trying to evacuate. The pictures were developed here and later sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hurricane Katrina is not Captain Wright’s first hurricane. He has flown into the “eye” of more than 60 hurricanes and tropical storms.

From 1996 through 2002, Captain Wright was part of Hurricane Hunters, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Reserve Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

He flew into Hurricane Mitch, the 1998 hurricane that devastated much of Central America and killed about 10,000 people, as well as Hurricane Francis, which destroyed many parts of Florida in 2004.

The Air Force Reserve group of pilots flies information-gathering missions into the center of hurricanes and tropical storms.

They collect information such as a storm’s wind speed, pressure, center, temperature and humidity. This data is used to narrow the area of evacuation to save money and lives. For every one-mile radius that is evacuated, expenses total to about $1 million, Captain Wright said.

“It’s sad when there is nothing you can do,” he said. By obtaining useful information about the storm, pilots help relief efforts greatly, he said

The Hurricane Hunter pilots fly aboard a WC-130 Hercules. The WC-130 Hercules is a high-wing, medium-range aircraft flown by the Air Force Reserve Command for weather reconnaissance missions.

Sensors installed on the aircraft measure per second outside temperature, humidity, absolute altitude of the aircraft, pressure altitude, wind speed and direction. This information, along with an evaluation of other meteorological conditions, turbulence, icing, radar returns and visibility, is encoded by the onboard meteorologist and transmitted by satellite to the National Weather Services' National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Unfortunately, natural disasters will continue to destroy many lives and lands. But Hurricane Hunger efforts minimize the damage by providing enhanced warning of the storm and in-depth facts about it. [ANN Salutes Airman 1st Class Robert Biermann, 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs]

FMI: www.af.mil