NATCHEZ &045; It’s been years since the Natchez-Adams County Airport had a month like September.

One of the few airports with fuel immediately after Katrina hit, the Natchez terminal became grand central station for aircraft trying to leave the coast and trying to get there.

The airport sold more than 22,000 gallons of fuel last month, and filled every available hangar and then some, Airport Manager Clint Pomeroy said.

&8221;We lost power for only 48 hours,&8220; Pomeroy said. &8221;We had fuel trucks, and we never ran out. We had the power back in time to reload from the inventory.&8220;

The airport had recently ordered fuel and a full inventory.

Entergy aircraft doing power line patrols stopped at the airport for fuel early in the month, and then a series of rescue helicopters came through, Pomeroy said.

A Navy Blackhawk and a Wisconsin Army Guard unit fueled in Natchez before heading to the coast, and several helicopters from the Silver State helicopter company made Natchez home base for work coordinated by Sheriff Ronny Brown.

Five planes came to Natchez to pick up people displaced by the storm, including a corporate jet from the east coast.

And when Rita was brewing, Chevron evacuated seven of their helicopters to the airport for refuge. Pomeroy said Chevron frequently comes to Natchez to escape hurricanes.

After Rita, a company taking aerial photos of the devastation visited the airport.

Joined by regular airport traffic, business was moving fast enough to keep everyone running, Pomeroy said.

&8221;If we needed to work longer we worked longer,&8220; he said. &8221;But it doesn’t require a lot of extra time, you just work a little harder when you are here.&8220;

With airports now open in New Orleans and on the coast, traffic has slowed back to normal, he said. But fuel profits from September will linger for a little longer.

&8221;Fuel sale is where we generate most of our income,&8220; Pomeroy said. &8221;It’s not a month we can count on (to happen again), but it helps.&8220;

The airport also gains some fees in hangar rent, but that’s not a large sum, he said, and prices stay the same, hurricane or not.

Routine hurricane preparations involve making room for as many aircraft as possible.

&8221;We try to maximize hangar space,&8220; he said. &8221;We take all the airplanes and stack them into the hangar very tight. It’s not a good way to operate daily, but for a couple of days, you can have them take up half the space.&8220;

Once hangar space is gone, planes can be tied down in the open on the ramp.