WP: Gulf Region Infrastructure Slowly Revives

[DeepModem Mom]

Gulf Region Infrastructure Slowly Revives
But Damage to Key Roads, Ports, Telecommunication Services and Energy Sources Remains

By Neil Irwin and Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 8, 2005; Page D01


Ten days after Hurricane Katrina shut down a major nexus of American commerce, many choked shipping lanes have been reopened, gasoline pipelines restored to service, and goods rerouted as businesses try to limit the economic fallout of the storm.

But key parts of the Gulf Coast's transportation systems, communications and energy production remain out of service for the foreseeable future. And yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the hurricane may slow U.S. economic growth by up to 1 percentage point over the rest of the year.

Katrina's damage to the physical infrastructure that keeps the regional economy going remains immense. Some 57 percent less oil than normal was pumped from the Gulf yesterday, and natural gas output is down 40 percent. Major highways in and around New Orleans are still closed, as is a 100-mile stretch of railroad. The Port of New Orleans remains shut down, and other nearby ports are working at limited capacity. More than 1 million telephone lines and about 30 percent of cell phone towers in the affected region remain out of service. And yesterday, more than 503,000 business and residential customers in Louisiana were still without electricity.

However, many businesses are finding ways around these problems, underscoring the resilience and nimbleness of the U.S. economy's modern supply and distribution networks.

Pilot Air Freight Corp., a Pennsylvania company that does shipping and logistics for companies worldwide, has routed trucks around the affected areas. It even managed to get trucks into New Orleans on Saturday to ship a load of industrial materials to Brussels, despite not having access to its shipping facility at the city's airport....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702099.html