FRANKFORT, Ky.– Kentucky Civil Air Patrol volunteer aircrews will take flight today to assist with Kentucky’s tornado recovery. Pilots and crewmembers will fly aerial storm surveys to assist The National Weather Service and the Kentucky Emergency Management Agency in providing the official intensities of the tornadoes.

Civil Air Patrol volunteer professionals routinely train to perform such aerial surveys with federal partners such as The National Weather Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local Emergency Management Agencies.

Similar capabilities were provided by Civil Air Patrol during the Henryville Tornado in neighboring Indiana in 2012 and the Moore Tornado in Oklahoma in 2013.

Civil Air Patrol volunteer professionals are standing by throughout the Midwest to assist in the tornado response, with crews in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan standing by ready to assist.

Civil Air Patrol is the longtime auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a valued member of its Total Force. In its auxiliary role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 single-engine aircraft and more than 2,100 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). It performs about 90% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 82 lives annually. CAP’s 56,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Operating as a nonprofit organization, CAP also plays a leading role in STEM/aerospace education, and its members serve as mentors to more than 23,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.

Visit www.CAP.News or www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com for more information about CAP.

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