The snapped and jagged trunks of once-towering pines protrude across its 29,000 acres, leaving expansive views toward the Gulf of Mexico where thick forests once stood. Dusty, empty lots remain on the site of some of the hundreds of buildings that succumbed to the Category 5 storm in 2018.
That reimagining includes elevating buildings above projected storm surges in coming decades, building housing units and aircraft hangers that can withstand fierce winds and enhancing the natural landscape to protect the peninsula where the base sits.While the fixes are primarily geared toward making Tyndall more resilient for generations, another hope is that the lessons unfolding here can be replicated at other bases around the world that will face — or already are facing — similar threats.
The military itself faced hard questions about whether to resurrect Tyndall — an endeavor that would cost billions of dollars, require years of disruption and still result in an installation perched on a vulnerable peninsula. “Think of it as the Air Force throwing its Costco card down on the table and buying buildings in bulk,” Dwyer said of the massive undertaking.semiautonomous robot dogs
The job of protecting Tyndall, while largely a construction and engineering project, goes beyond just concrete and steel. The military alsoto enhance the natural defenses that already exist along the base’s dozens of miles of coastline.