RAPID EQUIPMENT DELIVERIES HELP USA PORT RECOVERY AFTER HURRICANE HIT When Hurricane Laura tore through Port of Lake Charles in southwest Louisiana, USA, it caused extensive damage to almost every transit shed, warehouse, ship unloader and loader; Bruks Siwertell is doing its part to help with the port’s ongoing recovery TEXT
Daniel Pace PHOTOS Bruks Siwertell and Shutterstock
PORT OF LAKE CHARLES AND THE CALCASIEU SHIP CHANNEL (CSC), which connects the city of Lake Charles, in southwest Louisiana, USA, with the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the country’s largest and most important marine thoroughfares.
The port, comprising the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District, is central to the local economy, and its Gulf of Mexico connection makes it a key global player. Although not an unusual occurrence for the area, in September 2020, it suffered wide-spread destruction from a particularly powerful hurricane, named Laura. “Just about every transit shed, warehouse, ship loader and ship unloader were damaged as a result of Hurricane Laura,” Richert Self, Executive Director, Port of Lake Charles, reported at the time. “Our insurance claim for Hurricane Rita was about USD 1 million. This one is going
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to far exceed our USD 50 million cap that we have for insurance.”
Building back stronger The infrastructure damage was also compounded by the fact that this is a historic port. Much of its foundations and pilings were constructed in the 1930s, and therefore needed to be rebuilt to meet today’s standards. Essentially, large parts of the port are currently undergoing a fairly extensive reconstruction, along with the replacement of its dry bulk handling equipment.
