Coast Guard Works to Make Waters Navigable

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, things have gotten worse in New Orleans. The city has descended further into chaos. The Convention Center was a particular problem. Thousands of people are camped there seeking more food and water and evacuation. There are reports of beatings and rapes. At the other end of Poydras Street downtown, refugees at the beleaguered Superdome were slowly moving onto buses bound for Texas. Even so the New Orleans police chief says there are nowhere near enough buses to evacuate everyone from the city. Looting continues, and violence has increased.

Throughout the Gulf Coast the recovery is getting a slow start. In Mississippi, dead bodies are still out in the open, and electricity will be out for weeks or months. Today President Bush asked Congress for $10 billion in emergency relief funds.

President GEORGE W. BUSH: The efforts to rebuild the great city of New Orleans and to rebuild those communities in Mississippi and to help the folks in Alabama will make this nation a stronger place.

SIEGEL: The president will tour the devastation up close on Friday.

The Port of New Orleans is one of the busiest in the world, and the destruction in the city means that there is a traffic jam in the waterways coming into the port. Petty Officer Robert Reed of the US Coast Guard says that there are vessels backed up on the Mississippi River and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Petty Officer ROBERT REED (US Coast Guard): Right now we have reports of 86 vessels with notices of arrival coming into the zone of New Orleans. There's not an indication of exactly when these vessels are due to arrive at this time. But when they do, we're trying everything we can to have the port ready and available for them to arrive. It's a huge effort undertaken by us, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, local and state authorities and civilian contractors.

SIEGEL: Well, when might the port be ready to receive those ships?

PO REED: At this time, that is still being determined. It is, again, a massive effort that is being undertaken by numerous people. Right now the Coast Guard is basically--our main objective right now is search and rescue. So we're trying to get as many people out of New Orleans as possible because it's not a good situation down there.

SIEGEL: Well, tell us then what the challenge is to opening up the port for shipping. What do you have to do once you're past the rescue mission stage?

PO REED: Well, there's--the aids to navigation are a huge impact. They've been knocked out almost completely by the hurricane. We are assessing what damages have been done and will go in and, as quickly as possible, try to get up the buoys and any other markers that need to be put up so that the vessels can safely track.

SIEGEL: Eighty-six ships headed for the Port of New Orleans. What sorts of things are they carrying?

PO REED: Oh, they're all completely different kinds of ships: some commercial; some are more than likely private vessels, probably some cruise ships.

SIEGEL: But this is where we get a lot of our coffee.

PO REED: The Port of New Orleans is one of the busiest ports in the world. The economic impact of the port being closed is great. That's why we're doing everything we can to get it open as soon as possible.

SIEGEL: How much of a problem is debris in the water caused by, well, things that have been dislodged, barges, oil platforms and just buildings from the shore?

PO REED: Well, there's a great deal of different kinds of debris. We have a few sunken vessels in different places. We have--of course, the aids to navigation have been knocked out. There are still loose barges around that are creating safety hazards. And, also, there is a problem with debris in the water just from the flooding. And, also, almost all of the bridges in the New Orleans area are closed, and so--that includes the drawbridges and such that the ships have to go under. So that is also--they are under investigation, being inspected at this time; trying to get them open as soon as possible.

SIEGEL: You mean the bridges are closed for safety precautions' sake...

PO REED: Yes.

SIEGEL: ...or for lack of power or...

PO REED: Well, safety precautions and lack of power at this time but mostly safety precautions. They have to be inspected. After a storm of this size, they have to be inspected before they can be open to make sure that they're safe for people.

SIEGEL: What kind of a problem are sunken vessels?

PO REED: They can be a big problem. They have to be refloated and moved out of the way as soon as possible because that is a definite safety issue.

SIEGEL: Explain something to us. Is the Coast Guard in a situation where it really--if it's doing rescue, that's what it's doing along the Gulf Coast? It can't get on to the next phase? I mean, is it only capable of doing one thing at a time, given the magnitude of the task?

PO REED: Oh, no, we are a multimission agency. We're doing multiple things at one time. Our main objective right now is search and rescue, but we are, even at this very moment, trying to assess the damage and get the waterways opened and cleaned and ready for traffic.

SIEGEL: Well, Petty Officer Reed, thanks a lot for talking with us.

PO REED: Yes, sir. Have a good day.

SIEGEL: Petty Officer Robert Reed of the US Coast Guard. He spokes to us from Alexandria, Louisiana, where he is working this week.

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