Marines Hit Harder by Floodwaters Than by Hussein : Weather: General makes assessment after tour of Camp Pendleton damage, which affected 70 aircraft, electronic equipment and a chapel built in 1810.

Declaring Mother Nature a far tougher foe than Saddam Hussein, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps toured this flood-ravaged base Thursday and estimated that damage will total millions of dollars.

“We probably have more damage here as a result of the flood than we did during Desert Storm,” said Gen. Walter E. Boomer, a Persian Gulf War commander.

Boomer said 70 aircraft and other electronic equipment suffered flood damage, as well as two bridges over the Santa Margarita River. In addition, a chapel designated as a California historic site was hard hit.

“My job now is to go back and convince the Congress that we need the money to do the work that needs to be done to put our aircraft and air station back in shape,” Boomer said.

The general said he is convinced that the damage did not result from a lack of preparedness at the base. “Everybody here was watching the river very, very carefully,” Boomer said. “But what happened is that a dike that we did not anticipate giving away gave way. In a matter of 10 to 15 minutes a wall of water” hit the airfield.

Brig. Gen. Don Lynch, base commander, said it would probably take a year for the 120,000-acre base to recover from the flooding.

Among the structures severely damaged was a chapel built in 1810 as a winery. Its adobe walls were demolished. Lynch said the chapel’s eight stained-glass windows were recovered downstream but that religious artifacts on loan from the nearby Mission San Luis Rey were apparently lost.

Boomer characterized the Marines as “lucky” because only 70 of the helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft assigned to the base were on the ground when the flash flood hit. The remaining aircraft were at other sites, including Somalia. Boomer said he thought that of those hit by the flood, only one or two had suffered structural damage to their armaments.

In addition to touring the base, Boomer awarded the Navy Achievement Medal to three privates who had rescued an unconscious Marine from the river during the flood and provided emergency treatment. The Marine is recovering in a hospital.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.