Much needed funding is now in the hands of officials at the Port of Lake Charles. Under Louisiana state law, the port entered into a cooperative endeavor agreement with the state, meaning the port must seek reimbursement for funding allotted for costs pertaining to hurricane repairs.
“They all recognized how baldy Southwest Louisiana and the port needed these funds to recover from Hurricanes Laura and Delta from last year,” Port of Lake Charles executive director Richert Self said.
This comes as part of the $30 million American Rescue Plan. Some $14 Million was appropriated for the port, which will aid in the rebuilding process.
“We have a lot of building repairs we need to undertake – really at just about every one of our facilities,” Self said. “The port was just so decimated.”
The $170 million worth of severe destruction to the port includes damage to five cranes and several of the ship loaders and unloaders. As Self explains, they already have plans in place for the funding.
“Funds will go to our covered storage. A lot of the capital projects are just going to be building repairs, structural repairs to a lot of the assets that we have – considering crane hire (such as crane hire Perth WA),” Self said.
While still serving their customers, Self said damages have only impacted their efficiency.
“We were able to use ships’ gear and other ways to load vessels at Big T-One and some of our other terminals,” Self said. “It’s just not anywhere near as efficient as it was prior to the hurricane.”
Timelines on these projects range anywhere from 12 to 24 months depending on the project.
https://www.kplctv.com/2021/11/03/port-lake-charles-receives-millions-hurricane-repairs/
