U.S.: Crisis in Southern Louisiana (by Stratfor)
Although search-and-rescue operations remained the top priority of U.S. federal and Louisiana state authorities in the New Orleans area Aug. 30, the general consensus is that the region's main infrastructure network took a major hit from Hurricane Katrina -- and that it will be weeks at best before the crisis subsides. The eyewall -- the most deadly part of a hurricane -- swept directly across the lower Mississippi delta.
Shipping industry sources report that the situation on the Mississippi River is extremely bleak. The river is closed to navigation and restoration to "normal" traffic flows is likely to take at least a month.
As water rises in New Orleans, and spreads into the historic French Quarter, the city has become more of a hindrance than a help in efforts to assess regional infrastructure damage -- and get the region's economy back on track as soon as possible. Furthermore, if all pumps in below-sea-level New Orleans were working -- which they are not -- the bowl in which New Orleans sits would still take three weeks to empty.
Following is an initial assessment of the damage to the southern Louisiana energy and import-export infrastructure:
Most roads either are cut off or blocked by debris. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says that Louisiana State Highway 1 -- the backbone highway that crosses the state diagonally from the extreme northwest corner to Grand Isle on the Gulf of Mexico near the extreme southeast corner of the state -- is closed in the affected area. State Highway 39 also is closed because of debris and other problems.
The executive director of the Grand Isle Port says the port essentially is wiped out and the industrial region surrounding it is in ruins.
Damage assessments at Port Fourchon are being hampered because several large ships are beached on the highway leading to the port. The port is home to three-fourths of the support services to the Gulf's deepwater oil and gas facilities and the land base for the oil off-loading facility known as the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). At the very least the channels that allow ship access will need to be cleared.
Oil-services facilities in the city of Venice, the closest such facility to Port Fourchon, have been completely destroyed.
The city of Cutoff also is reporting massive damage via extremely sporadic communications.
Shipping sources report that the Port of New Orleans, for all practical purposes, is gone. Damage along the Port of South Louisiana, a series of dozens of interlinked docks and trade service infrastructure, appears to be heavily damaged.
Cellular and landline communications are down throughout the region.
The situation on the Mississippi River is dire. The U.S. Coast Guard only recently began surveying the channel to look for wrecks -- and already has found many. Shipping industry sources say most barges are intact and their crews are well, but the one remaining open road to and from New Orleans will make re-supply and rotation difficult. In essence, the crews have become refugees in their barges. All electronic aids to navigation have been disrupted and are either nonfunctioning or destroyed. Although navigation is possible using GPS systems, massive quantities of debris will keep barges where they are. The river is closed to all civilian navigation to mile marker 507 in Natchez, Mississippi -- about halfway to Arkansas.
The Coast Guard has been forced to relocate its staff upstream to Alexandria, about 200 miles from New Orleans.
The U.S. Agriculture Department has begun debate on transporting grains -- especially soybeans and corn -- to Louisiana and Mississippi by rail, but no decisions have been confirmed. The rail industry already is expecting a shortage of rolling stock because the drought in the Ohio River valley is forcing some shipments to travel by rail instead of river. Because barges on the lower Mississippi are at a standstill, there are doubts agricultural producers will be able to ship grain into the region by the end of September. Soybean harvest begins in two weeks, and national soybean storage facilities already are filled to capacity.
At present, there is only one piece of good news. Initial reports indicate that the LOOP itself has passed its initial damage assessment and appears ready to resume operations as soon as power is restored. That does not, however, mean that it will. Operators must first ensure that the pipeline connecting the LOOP to Port Fourchon remains intact.
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