DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Air Force will send 300 airmen home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help their families cope with emergencies on a hurricane-devastated airbase in Biloxi, Miss., a spokesman said Saturday.

The airmen, all based at Keesler Air Force Base, would begin flying home over the next two weeks, said Air Force Capt. David Small, spokesman for U.S. Central Command Air Forces in Qatar.

The group includes airmen who were scheduled to rotate home in September and others whose deployments would be cut short.

"Those who weren't scheduled to go home, we're going to send them home anyway to take care of their families and the hurricane damage," Small said.

Keesler, just off the beach in the Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina. The storm wiped out much of its housing and other infrastructure. Small said most personnel and families on the base had been moved to temporary shelters.

"Everything was under water," he said.

Small said he had heard no reports of storm-related deaths on the base. Keesler houses both active duty airmen and Air Force Reservists.