Topeka ? While many East Coast residents were moving to higher ground, crews from the New Jersey Air National Guard headed 1,100 miles west Wednesday to avoid the brunt of Hurricane Isabel.

Eight KC-135R tankers from the 108th Air Refueling Wing at McGuire Air Force Base in central New Jersey began arriving Wednesday morning at Forbes Field, home to the 190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard, which flies the same model aircraft.

Capt. Charles Tai, a pilot ferrying the aircraft, said three, three-man flight crews and aircraft support crews would stay in Kansas until the storm died down. Additional crews were staying with aircraft sent to Milwaukee.

The storm, forecast to hit land today in North Carolina, was expected to bring heavy wind and rain to the East Coast. Tai said crews started making calls to other bases last week as Isabel churned in the Atlantic with 160 mph winds.

“We were prepared and ready to go,” Tai said. “Better safe than sorry when you’re talking about millions of dollars of aircraft.”

Tai said moving the aircraft exhausted the wing’s crews. Most airmen would be returning Wednesday to their base to be with family as the storm approached. Those staying behind will be housed in Topeka hotels.

“I’ve been with the unit for six years and never experienced anything like this before,” Tai said.

The New Jersey unit supports aircraft flying along the East Coast. Tai said moving the planes wouldn’t disrupt their operations because those aircraft would be grounded or moved as well.

Maj. John Ginzel of the Kansas Air National Guard said the base had enough room to handle the additional aircraft. The 190th has 11 tankers, though many are deployed around the world on other missions.

Ginzel said numerous units from the East Coast began calling this week looking for tarmacs on which to park their aircraft. North Carolina units sent fighter aircraft to Oklahoma, for example.

Kansas has provided safe haven from storms in the past.

In 1985, aircraft from England Air Force Base in Alexandria, La., flew to Forbes Field twice in three weeks to escape hurricanes Danny and Elena. On Aug. 15, 1985, the field hosted 56 A-10 Warthogs and their crews, with another 66 coming to Kansas on Sept. 2 when the second storm arrived.

Aircraft from the New York Air National Guard flew to Kansas in January 1994 when a nor’easter was predicted to bring heavy ice and up to 24 inches of snow to New England.