The towers lurching worsened and most of those onboard were evacuated, but a skeleton crew remained. They were there to protect the millions of dollars in radar equipment from the Russians, and to maintain the tower while more repairs were attempted. In January of 1961 there were 28 crew, half of them USAF personnel and half a civilian repair team. Warned by radio of an approaching storm, the next cargo ship offered to evacuate the tower, but orders from land said for the men to stay on the tower and the ship to stand by. The chain of command for the towers was poorly designed, and apparently the superior officer on land was unsure of his authority to evacuate the station.