That's where the author's logic is so flawed - the port doesn't need New Orleans. It needs infrastructure (physical and power) and it needs 15,000 or so employees (just a guess) who can come from anywhere in the surrounding region. New Orleans is tourist town, and this author is a bozo.
That said, untold billions will be spent on the city's recovery.
I hate to disappoint the author of this article, but I'm betting that not a single one of the tens of thousands of people trapped at the Superdome and the convention center were port employees.
In fact, I'd be surprised if more than a few dozen of them have ever received a W-2 statement from the IRS in their lives.
Not only on the city, the entire region. Think of all the construction materials, refrigerators, cars, stoves, household furniture, etc., which will be required. Big bucks will be pumped into the region for years to come. It's called making lemonade out of lemons.