[Abby4116]

Aren't there cruises that go to and from NO, also. Wonder what's happening with that...

Read or heard this morning that there is no information if the CHANNEL is even open on the river. Seems it is constantly being dredged to keep it open in normal times - how much silt may have shifted with this storm?

[Thud]

It is normal for Delta shipping channels to be closed for a while following a big hurricane while those are checked for obstructions and mud flows. It is much cheaper to fix those before ships pile up on them, rather than after. Katrina differs from this only in that it was a bigger storm and so will likely entail a longer closure period than that required for smaller hurricanes.

The real problem is that the Port of New Orleans is closed indefinitely. Much of the nation's imports and exports rely on the Port where those are transferred to and from ocean-going ships and Mississippi River barges. The barges go up and down the River more easily than seacraft.

I suspect the Port facilities themselves are OK - they're on the Mississippi River side. The problem is that all the Port support infrastructure - power, sewer, water, etc., has either been flooded out or has lost all personnel due to the evacuation order.

What is really bad is that it will take at least months before the housing and necessary civil infrastructure are restored for port personnel and their dependents. If the City of New Orleans is a constructive total loss due to toxic contamination and levee improvement costs, it might be necessary to move the Port to whereever the City is rebuilt.

IMO the best solution, if most of the City is written off and rebuilt on a new site, to have the safe, high ground areas of the existing site reserved for port personnel and dependents, plus tourists (the French Quarter, etc.). That way they can keep the Port going where it is. And rebuilding priority should go to living quarters for Port personnel and dependents.