Floods expose threat to military posed by climate change

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — Floodwaters laden with corn cobs from surrounding farm fields are lapping near the U.S. Strategic Command, after the surging Missouri River inundated one-third of a Nebraska air base.

Flooding that started by a week ago Friday has sent muddy water inside about 80 buildings at Offutt Air Force Base outside Omaha, and submerged part of its two-mile runway. Strategic Command there escaped damage, but temporarily cut staffing to a minimum.

For retired rear admiral and climate change security expert David W. Titley, the 7 feet of water filling some buildings at the base are a reminder that the kind of extreme weather associated with climate change is more than a coastal problem.

The Trump administration has been publicly unresponsive to military warnings that climate change is a national security threat.