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Tornado Recovery Underway at Michoud Assembly Facility
Teams at our Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans worked overnight and are continuing Wednesday with assessment and recovery efforts following a tornado strike at the facility Tuesday at 11:25 a.m. CST. All 3,500 employees at the facility have been accounted for, with five sustaining minor injuries.
Teams worked through the night on temporary repairs to secure the perimeter fencing and provide access for the essential personnel through the main gate. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the buildings at Michoud have some kind of damage; about five buildings have some form of severe damage.
Approximately 200 parked cars were damaged, and there was damage to roads and other areas near Michoud.
“The entire NASA family pulls together during good times and bad, and the teams at the Michoud Assembly Facility are working diligently to recover from the severe weather that swept through New Orleans Tuesday and damaged the facility,” said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “We are thankful for the safety of all the NASA employees and workers of onsite tenant organizations, and we are inspired by the resilience of Michoud as we continue to assess the facility’s status.”
Teams will reassess the condition of the Vertical Assembly Center (VAC), as the initial examination revealed some electrical damage to its substation. The VAC is used to weld all major pieces of hardware for the core stage of the Space Launch System. The most recently welded part was removed from the facility last week.
The team has prioritized completing the assessment at the site’s main manufacturing building for the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft flight hardware so power can be restored in phases and temporary protection put in place to shield hardware from any further inclement weather.
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Muse
I've never felt so used. All I do is write and paint and say beautiful things about you
and what do you do besides break my heart? Sure you inspire me but at what cost?
I’ll never own you but I feel like you belong to me.
I’ve called you home for far too long
far longer than these transplanted seeds.
They don't have any roots here they haven't grown any trees.
Yea, they sing you songs but they do you wrong, too.
It’s hard having to share you with those who have yet to shed their leaves.
When they come for a visit and they don't stay I'm the one that sweeps your streets the next day
and how do you repay me?
With hurricanes, and apathy and summers that last too long and disregard but I still hang you on my living room walls
and invite everyone I know over to see that you're the one who inspires me even if you don't care at all.
