The G-222 aircraft, which were built between 1977 and 1985, are receiving avionics upgrades, while two will also be given sound-proof, VIP transport modules.

There is also scepticism about whether the original goal, a surface large enough to create a floating runway that could accommodate transport aircraft, is either financially or physically feasible.

Those images of the us aircraft carriers and transport ships evacuating thousands in the wake of the flooding still stick in my mind.