As Hurricane Isaac bears down on the Gulf Coast, approximately 4,000 service members and staff from the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida are taking shelter at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany.

In normal circumstances there are about 3,500 people on-base in Albany; that population more than doubled when evacuees arrived Monday night.

Public affairs officer Colie Young says they’ve converted several massive warehouses into temporary homes for displaced personnel.

“We made sure we had shower facilities, got ‘em fed with meals ready to eat, they’re just pretty much here as a safe haven until the storm passes and they can return home,” Young said.

Young says service members and staff at the Albany base train for these contingencies year-round. Their procedures were put to the test seven years ago when Hurricane Katrina marooned the same personnel from Florida in Albany for three weeks.

Tags: Albany, Adam Ragusea, Hurricane Isaac, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Marine Corps Logistics Base