Nearly 1,000 Personnel from Guantanamo Bay Relocated to NAS Pensacola Ahead of Hurricane Melissa

Pensacola, FL (Newsradio 92.3) -- Nearly 1,000 non-mission essential staff from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were flown into NAS Pensacola on Saturday night due to the intensifying Hurricane Melissa.

"Just really appreciate the leadership that the Captain (Capt. Chandra Newman) is showing, as they are mustering together a lot of resources," Congressman Jimmy Patronis tells our news partners at Channel 3. "Working with the red cross and other parties to make sure there is adequate hot meals and bedding as the storm needs to pass through>"

Evacuees are being lodged at NAS Pensacola's Navy Lodge and Navy Inn. Hundreds of pets were also flown in and are being housed in a makeshift kennel. The USO of Northwest Florida was able to collect pet food through generous community donations and has already collected enough food and pet items to pause their donation efforts. The USO says there could be further donation efforts as they assess the needs of the evacuees.

There's no word on how long the Navy personnel and their pets will be here in Pensacola.