The Port of New Orleans has set up a “satellite” office and taken steps in case another storm strikes the southern Louisiana coast during the 2008 hurricane season, an official said Friday.
“We’ve tightened up on our disaster recovery plan, which will make it easier to restart the port should we be faced with another big one,” Chris Bonura, the spokesman for the port, said in an email response to questions from Reuters.
“We have started a satellite office at the Port of Shreveport-Bossier. We have determined which port staffers will go to this office. We have the equipment and communications established there to keep all vital functions of port administration running without missing a beat,” he said.
While New Orleans is at the southern end of Louisiana where the Mississippi River snakes its way into the Gulf of Mexico, the 2,000-acre port of Shreveport-Bossier is located in the northwestern corner of the state with links to highways, railways and airport facilities.
New Orleans’ port was devastated as a result of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Port officials estimated the storm inflicted $100 million in damage, while businesses dependent on the port suffered up to $300 million in losses.
Before Katrina, New Orleans port accounted for a fifth of U.S. export and import trade. It was also the premier outlet for U.S. agricultural exports, handling barges of wheat, soybeans and corn shipped from the American heartland.
The port is sprucing up plans for hurricane season this year after the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the season will probably see 12 to 16 named storms, of which two to five will become major hurricanes.
The hurricane season normally peaks from August to October. It begins June 1 and runs through November 30.
NEW ORLEANS PORT COMMUNICATIONS, LOGISTICS TIGHTENED UP
Bonura said the port set up satellite offices after Katrina, but that was done on the fly and based on where key employees had evacuated.
“This process ensures that all key employees will be in the same place and that they will have easy access to the equipment and the data that they need to do their jobs,” he said.
Shreveport is also far enough away from New Orleans to be out of harm’s way and maintain communications, but it is still close enough in Louisiana that they can return quickly to New Orleans.
Bonura said a uniformed Harbor Police Officer with a marked unit will help one or more of the satellite staffers if they need to get back into New Orleans while the city remains closed.
Port staffers were given cell phones from area codes in other parts of the country and there are recovery email addresses in case the port email does not work.
“Our experience from Katrina suggests that there is no silver bullet to ensure that communications will work. The better approach is to have a lot of different communications options and hope that one works,” explained Bonura.
A small crew will also be left behind in New Orleans to watch over the port and get it up and running after a storm hits.
The port recently conducted a drill which simulated the approach of a hurricane to New Orleans.
“The blanks that we have filled in since Katrina really fall into the category of a disaster recovery plan,” said Bonura. “As you might imagine, hindsight really teaches you a lot about disaster planning.
“After Katrina, we have made a number of changes that we think will make recovery go a lot smoother if — God forbid — we have another disaster,” he concluded.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
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