EF1 tornado touches down near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — A tornado caused damage to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wednesday.

A Wright-Patterson Public Affairs spokesperson confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s Restoration Hangar 4, Gate 22B (I-675), and “several other buildings on Area B” were damaged.

The National Weather Service confirmed that the tornado that damaged the base was an EF1.

The tornado first developed near homes located just south of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and continued to the base.

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The damage is being assessed by the 88th Civil Engineer Group, first responders, and base safety personnel.

“Our initial assessment from this morning’s storm is the damage is isolated to the southern side of Area B. Our initial focus right now is on safety and damage assessment,” Col. Travis Pond, 88th Air Base Wing and installation commander said.

Pond also stated he couldn’t “speak highly enough about (their) security forces, Fire Department and civil engineer Airmen for their quick response and hard work to assess damage and determine a path forward to restoring operations as quickly as possible.”

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Photos sent from an iWitness7 showed the damage to the hangar. The base also released photos from their assessment showed a clearer picture of how much damage was done.

A representative from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force said while the hangar was damaged, the aircraft inside were relatively undamaged.

The aircraft pictured outside of the hangar was damaged. The representative said that the aircraft had been previously slated for disposal.

The damage temporarily closed Gate 22B. That gate has since reopened for normal operations. Gate 1B (Springfield St.) will be closed now.

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