Texas ports struggle in Ike aftermath

Texas ports struggle in Ike aftermath In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the Port of Houston said “a range of serious complications due to the lack of electricity” prevented it from opening for business on Wednesday.
   The Port of Beaumont said electrical service has been restored to the majority of its port facilities and that it “continues to move closer to normal operations.” It said BNSF, Union Pacific and Kansas City-Southern — the three Class I railroads that serve the Port of Beaumont — are expected to be back in service by the end of the week after being disrupted by the storm’s landfall last weekend.
   Beaumont port officials said truck transportation throughout Southeast Texas was not interrupted. Interstate 10 and other major highways serving the port reopened shortly after Ike moved through the area Saturday.
   It said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard were expected to complete surveys of the Sabine-Neches Waterway Tuesday and expect the ship channel to be reopened to limited marine traffic by Wednesday.
   At the Port of Galveston, The Galveston Daily News, USA Today and local television stations reported that cars left by cruise passengers in port parking lots were ruined by the storm.
   As a result of the closure of the Port of Galveston, Carnival Cruise Lines said two of its ships, Carnival Conquest and Carnival Ecstasy, are scheduled to operate their regular cruise programs from the Port of Houston’s Bayport Cruise Terminal effective with this weekend’s departures.