The 325th Maintenance Group’s building at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., lies in ruin following Hurricane Michael on Oct. 10, 2018. (Alexander Henninger/U.S. Air Force)
Extreme weather and natural disasters cost the Pentagon at least $15 billion over the past decade, and more planning is needed to mitigate future weather impacts to bases and their military missions, a government watchdog found.
However, that estimate could be low because the Defense Department has not comprehensively tracked data related to those costs, according to the Government Accountability Office, which issued a report Monday on preparing for extreme weather events.
The GAO reviewed 12 bases that have sustained substantial damage since 2015 and visited three of them in person for the 61-page report — conducted at the request of Congress.
“Starting in 2024, DOD began taking steps to track data on extreme weather costs and other impacts, but DOD’s efforts to date have not enabled the department to collect complete and accurate data on installation disaster recovery costs,” according to the report.
The GAO made five recommendations: to establish a process to collect complete disaster recovery cost data from military bases; to expand the definition of natural disasters to make sure all types of threats are accounted for; and for the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force to issue guidance to bases to put resiliency and recovery plans into installation master plans. Specifically, the GAO wanted to make sure that earthquakes were included in disaster plan accounting and preparation because it is not included in the Pentagon’s definition of extreme weather, according to the report.
The Defense Department agreed with each recommendation, according to the report.
Vehicles left behind following the evacuation of Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., are reduced to smashed meta, after Hurricane Michael made landfall on Oct. 10, 2018. (Alexander Henninger/U.S. Air Force)
Among the larger disasters evaluated in the report was Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base in 2018, causing roughly $4.5 billion in damage. It also resulted in 700,000 cubic yards of debris to manage. Among the cost of recovery was transferring the F-22 mission to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, in Virginia.
Recovery work at the base is estimated to continue until 2027, according to the report.
In 2019, an earthquake struck National Air Weapons Station China Lake, in California, causing nearly $4 billion in damage that affected critical labs and weapons magazines. Final recovery work is expected to be completed this year.
The costs associated with recovering from extreme weather were not always damage related. Fort Hood, Texas, was hit in 2021 by Winter Storm Uri, leaving the Army with a $35.9 million heating bill for the storm. Total recovery costs from the ice storm, which left several buildings and barracks with busted water pipes, were $48.3 million.
The GAO also noted that during recovery, the 12 bases reviewed did look for ways to rebuild so that future weather events would be less impactful and made adjustments that were feasible.
Some examples of improvements included stabilizing hillsides after 2023 flooding at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to prevent erosion from future flood events, adding seismic joints to buildings at China Lake and adding breakaway walls to minimize structure damage in flooding at Tyndall. Air Force officials also redesigned the layout of the base to improve resilience, operational efficiency and quality of life for airmen.
In some instances, base officials told the GAO there were resilience projects they identified that could help the base, but a lack of funding stopped them from moving forward.
