Port of New Orleans shuts as Rita closes in

September 26, 2005

26 September 2005

Port of New Orleans shuts as Rita closes in

The following is excerpted from the 23 September 2005 online edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

BATON ROUGE -- The Port of New Orleans shut down all operations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Rita.

While the port is not in the direct path of the Category 4 storm, port executive director Gary LaGrange said all precautions were being taken.

"We don't want to squander any of the progress we've made the last three weeks, and we must be cautious," he said, referring to the recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago.

LaGrange said the port expects to re-open on Sunday.
Other ports along the Texas and Louisiana coasts are completely shuttered today as Rita lumbers toward the Texas-Louisiana border, packing 140-mph winds.

Landfall is projected to occur in the Lake Charles, La., area around dawn Saturday with a 15- to 20-foot storm surge. The Texas ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport, Corpus Christi, Beaumont and Port Arthur, along with the Louisiana ports of Lake Charles, New Iberia and New Orleans all ceased operations as of Thursday.

The Port of Houston, which likely will avoid a direct hit from the storm, is expected to re-open Monday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is readying full-scale preparations, positioning personnel, equipment and vehicles to help get transportation and logistics operations back up and running after the storm.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Thursday said the agency is staging personnel with expertise in repairing port infrastructure in New Orleans to deploy as needed.
Twelve Ready Reserve Vessels in New Orleans, Port Sulphur, La., Houston; Orange, and Beaumont, Texas will be available to provide power, equipment and housing for workers following the hurricane.

Mineta said personnel from DOT are working with state and local officials to assess transportation infrastructure in the regions likely to be affected. "These teams are beginning to develop plans to quickly repair and rebuild roads, bridges, ports, pipelines and airports should they be damaged by Hurricane Rita," he said.

State and federal governments were sharply criticized for a sluggish relief response after Katrina devastated the northern Gulf region last month.

At 8 a.m. ET, the hurricane was centered about 260 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, and 220 miles south-southeast of Cameron, La. It was moving to the northwest at 9 mph.

The DOT is maintaining a small staff at Houston aviation facilities to reactivate key equipment following the storm. The agency also is suspending rules limiting hours of service for truck drivers in the affected region so emergency and repair crews will be able to work as needed to support evacuation, recovery and repair operations.
Railroad operators are working with the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association to identify hazmat cars in Texas and Louisiana and move those cars as needed. DOT will expedite the process for issuing waivers to allow rail operators to clear damaged equipment in order to resume operations after the storm passes through the region.


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