CAP Continues Ida Damage Assessment Flights

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) launched 15 aerial photo sorties over the weekend as part of the effort to assess damage caused by Hurricane Ida. The CAP Louisiana Wing, which began its assessment flights last week, was joined by two aircraft from the Texas Wing and one from the Tennessee Wing. CAP is working in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) for the mission.

“We very much appreciate the support and technical expertise provided by the crews and aircraft from our sister wings, Texas and Tennessee,” said the Louisiana Wing commander Col. Patrick Yglesias. “It has certainly enabled this wing to more rapidly and more efficiently respond to the tasks given it by FEMA and GOHSEP.”

According to CAP, the images will be used to “produce a highly detailed mosaic of the target area, which will then be delivered to emergency responders.” Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29 near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with sustained winds of 150 MPH. Early estimates of the storm damage are coming in at tens of billions of dollars.