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Gary
LaGrange,
President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, had this to say in
summarizing the situation at the Port: |
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| Press
Release From Blue Water -- An
agency in |
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August
31, 2005 Captain
Paskewich, COTP, Sector New Orleans, has opened the entire river to tug
and barge traffic. USCG is very close to opening most of river to deep
draft vessel Shifts within the river, and are working feverishly on
getting soundings in the lower river to determine draft and obstructions.
He reports there are 80 to 100 barges on the bank around mm 55, and I have
other reports some may have sunk, so they are concerned about draft in
that area. They currently have (3) ships aground, (2) at AMA anchorage and
(1) in
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| The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ports,
roads, rails remain closed after Katrina Updated 10:57 a.m. ET, Thu Sep 1, 2005 By Joseph Bonney Ports and inland transportation in the central Gulf Coast region remain closed after Hurricane Katrina while rescue and recovery efforts continue and officials assess damage. Some of the worst-damaged facilities will be closed for months. The Coast Guard said the Mississippi River and waterways from Mobile to New Orleans remain closed to ship traffic, although the Intracoastal Canal from Mobile to Panama City, Fla., is open and barge traffic has resumed in Mobile Bay. The Corps of Engineers said it was surveying the condition of river channels, but that many of its resources were being applied to plugging breached levees at New Orleans. The Port of Gulfport, Miss., which specializes in bananas and other perishables, took a direct hit from the hurricane's 25-foot storm surge and was virtually flattened, with container cranes knocked down and sheds blown apart. The storm surge pushed barges blocks inland and scattered 40-foot containers through downtown Gulfport. A large section of one of the two floating casinos at the port was left high and dry, straddling U.S. Highway 90 north of the port. Television film taken by helicopter showed that the surge leveled most buildings between the Mississippi Sound and CSX railroad tracks nearly a half mile inland. The highway, which parallels the beach and abuts the port, was badly damaged, with causeway-type bridges knocked out at Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, Miss. Interstate 10, several miles inland, also was closed from the Alabama line to west of New Orleans by flooding, debris and heavy damage to bridges across the east end of Lake Pontchartrain. The Port of New Orleans will be closed indefinitely. With most of the city flooded, electricity out, drinking water unsafe, and conditions generally chaotic, the city has been ordered evacuated, and officials say it could be months before residents are permitted to return. Port officials said sheds suffered moderate to heavy damage, and that a laid-up vessel, the Chios Beauty, broke loose and went aground on the Missisippi River's west bank, in the city's Algiers section. The France Road and Jourdan Road terminals at the head of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet were flooded on the first day of the hurricane and remain under water. "The outcome is not good, and it has been aggravated by unexpected flooding conditions following the storm," said Gary LaGrange, the port's president and CEO. The lower Mississippi is the nation's primary outlet for exported grain, and handles imported oil for several large refineries along the river. Relatively little storm damage was reported along the stretch of river under jurisdiction of the Port of South Louisiana, although that area remained without electricity. Rail and truck service into the mid-Gulf area remains disrupted. Railroads suspended service to the coastal area before the storm and some rail lines were damaged or flooded. Several major highways in the area remain closed by water, debris, downed power lines or damaged bridges. Besides I-10 and U.S. 90, the list of closed highways includes sections of U.S. 49 north from Gulfport; Interstate 59 through Mississippi; and U.S. 98 from Mobile to Hattiesburg, Miss. Pascagoula, midway between Gulfport and Mobile, suffered heavy damage, but there was no word as of Thursday morning about the condition of the port. The Port of Mobile suffered substantial damage from a 12-foot storm surge, with containers and debris scattered through the terminal, but port officials expected to be able to resume cargo operations soon. Crowley Liner Services, which also operates at Gulfport, said its Gulf sailings, including a thrice-weekly service to and from Honduras and Guatemala, has been diverted to Port Everglades. Chiquita Brands International said Katrina had severely damaged its facilities at Gulfport, and that most of the company's imports of bananas and other fruit will be rerouted through Freeport, Texas, or Port Everglades, Fla. "Fortunately, all 20 of our employees in Gulflport have been accounted for, and we are grateful," said Bob Kistiinger, Chiquita's president and chief operating officer. "While we are still assessing the situation, it is clear that we will need to relocate our services from Gulfport for the foreseeable future," Kistinger said. "However, we are very committed to Gulfport and are developing plans to rebuild our facilities there as soon as possible." It won't be the first time Gulfport has had to rebuild from a hurricane. The port was closed for several months after it was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969. Survivors of that storm said Katrina's storm surge was even more damaging than Camille's. |
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