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Hampton Roads ships poised for storm relief

NORFOLK, Va. — Sailors stand poised to dash to the Gulf Coast if Tropical Storm Gustav makes a violent landfall as predicted on Monday.

“Navy assets are ready and able to assist with potential hurricane relief and humanitarian assistance if and when tasked by Fleet Forces command,” said Lt. Courtney Hillson, deputy public affairs officer at 2nd Fleet.

Navy ships and aircraft reacted to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima — deployed just this week on a seven-month cruise — serving as an afloat operations center from pier-side in New Orleans.

Three Hampton Roads-based amphibious warfare ships — the amphibious assault ships Bataan and Nassau and the amphibious transport dock Ponce — would likely be sent down to the Gulf of Mexico if Gustav wreaks havoc ashore, according to Lt. Cmdr. Tamsen Reese, a public affairs officer at the Pentagon.