Hurricane Katrina, one year later

Railway Age, August, 2006 by Gregory A. Deakle

This month's column is a bit different from the norm. It isn't about marketing, rates, or the state of the industry, but people, trying times, and devastation. It's about Hurricane Katrina, one year later, as it relates to the Port Bienville Railroad (www.portandharbor.com/ railroad.html). PBVR--publicly owned by Hancock County, Miss., and operated through the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission--was built in the early '70s to serve the now 3,600-acre Port Bienville Industrial Park and shallow draft port. The Commission owns and operates the Stennis International Airport as well, but the entire organization relies heavily on rail revenues. All of us are proud and relieved to report that the railroad is on target to haul 9,000-plus carloads and perform nearly as many switch movements, despite Katrina's effects.

It's hard for those not subjected to Katrina's devastation on Aug. 29, 2005, to fully understand it. But try to imagine walls of flood water reaching as high as 20 feet. All of PBVR's 592 railcars were flooded to a level that encumbered wheel changes, with more than 300 also requiring brake valve work. To further complicate matters, about 120 of them floated as far as 150 feet. Despite their being locked "safely" away in the rail facilities' building, one-half mile from any water, all the locomotives main generators were water logged.

Once the storm passed, we needed to restore the track, just to reach derailed cars. Emergency repairs were made to more than half the railroad (almost five miles) that had been washed out--much of it to the sub-base. Sadly, our Class I partner was in even worse shape, resulting in a loss of five to six months of interchange service.

Almost a year later, we're still recovering, but we didn't do it all on our own. We thank RJ Corman for fast and efficient track repair and re-railing that allowed us to begin positioning cars on Sept. 13; Andress Engineering for finding a trackmobile in record time so we could move cars; and CSX Transportation for giving us limited interchange service by mid-December (two months early) and working with Mississippi Export Railroad to set up transloading facilities that helped us serve our major customers. We also thank the staffs at ASLRRA, Garver Engineers, The Andersons, Hulcher, Rescar, A&K Railroad Materials, Railinc, Pioneer Railway, Vulcan Materials, Century Group, and many others for their help and support. Many sent disaster relief directly to our employees, as well.

I thank our entire organization, too, for raising PBVR from the rubble. Employees who normally spend their time pulling pins, throwing switches, or notching the throttle were instead mucking out buildings, digging trenches for utilities, sifting through wet files, and doing whatever it took to recover--all while dealing with their own personal tragedies. About 60% lost their homes and nearly 100% had extensive damage.

Early on, there were no working telephone lines, very little electricity, and many cell phone towers had collapsed. All of our computers and paper files were gone. Backup tapes were mined when the bank vault went under water. Because all our offices were flooded, the Commission operated out of two small airport offices. For a short time, we had military personnel guarding the limited amount of cash we had for buying supplies like rubber boots and gloves.

Besides getting rail operations up and running, we had many other pressing issues. One of our first tasks was securing shelter for employees and their families. Within days, Roxanne Myers (now deceased), the wife of an HNTB employee, was able to locate refurbished mobile homes, and by Oct. 1 we had a trailer park set up with water and sewers, followed soon after by electric power. We still use one trailer as a temporary office.

One might think that PBVR is lucky because, as a public agency, we may--and I use that word carefully--receive help from FEMA. But seeing adjuster after adjuster; giving tour after tour; preparing iteration after iteration of the same paper work; dealing with public and private claims adjusters, and FEMA PACs and POs (and replacement PACs and POs) is firing and frustrating, when everything around you has been damaged or destroyed and must be inspected, and work scope must be agreed upon by all parties. Contractors' invoices, certified payrolls, engineers' reports, and construction/repair estimates are subject to differing views. Since FEMA may be the umbrella that helps our recovery, insurance companies are less likely to provide appropriate settlements. Who would have thought that proving ownership of your railroad could be a major issue with FEMA? But try to do it when every record has floated away and the ones you've been able to find are awaiting restoration at a drying service.

All of this was done while trying to recover track, repair buildings, pay contractors, acquire locomotives, and buy diesel fuel. It would be easy for anyone to run from this continuing nightmare, but only one employee has left, and regretfully, another was tragically killed in an auto accident. Through it all, the cooperation of our friends and associates; the patience and understanding of our customers; the compassion of many others; and, most of all, the perseverance and dedication of our team has gotten us further along than we ever dreamed, and will get us the rest of the way to a full recovery.