Welcome Aboard (October 2008)

8/14/2019 Welcome Aboard (October 2008)

1/9


2/9

The boys of The boys of

SUMMER SUMMER Active hurricane seasonActive hurricane season

keeps port on its toes withkeeps port on its toes withEdouard, Gustav and IkeEdouard, Gustav and Ike

REFUGE: Scores of tugboats and shrimp boats shelter in place as waves ahead of Hurricane Ike push flotsam and foam onto the portsRO/RO ramp in September. Ike sideswiped Beaumont as the areas third tropical cyclone threat of the 2008 hurricane season.


3/9

This view from the Harbor Island Marine Terminal shows Hurricane Ike at full fury on the morn-ing of Sept. 13. Sustained winds at the port topped 70 mph, with a gust to 122 mph.

Fatigued, but ready.No phrase more aptly describes

the mood of Southeast Texas inearly September as Hurricane Ikescraped across Cuba, slid into the

Gulf of Mexico and became thefourth threat from a tropical cyclonesince Hurricane Rita awakened theregions storm consciousness in2005.

Preparations began in earnest asthe mammoth storm entered theGulf of Mexico on Sept. 8 and fore-casts placed Ike somewhere alongthe Texas coast by weeks end.

For the third time this hurricaneseason, maintenance employeesremoved loose objects that couldcause additional damage in hurri-cane-force winds and braced transitshed doors.

As the week progressed, the portbecame a hive of activity.The U.S. Coast Guard, Texas

Parks and Wildlife Department andother state and federal agenciesbegan sheltering their boats in theCarroll Street transit sheds.

Local authorities moved ambu-lances, police cars and other emer-gency vehicles onto the M/V CapeVincent to ride out the storm.Shrimp boats, tugboats and crewboats from coastal waters acrossTexas and Louisiana began driftingup the Sabine-Neches Waterwayand tying up to any available dock

space.Mandatory evacuation orders for residents of Jefferson and Orangecounties went into effect at 6 a.m.Thursday, Sept. 11.

By the time Ikes first rain bandsstruck during the evening of Friday,Sept. 12, more than 150 vesselshad sought refuge at the port, andcountless Coast Guard, military andlocal essential personnel were hun-kered down aboard the Cape Vin-cent .

The brunt of Ikes punishing blowson Southeast Texas arrived shortlybefore midnight. Hurricane-force

winds battered the region throughdawn Sept. 13, and tropical storm-force winds and torrential rainsaffected the area through earlyafternoon.

Initial assessments revealed onlyminor damage to port facilities withtypical post-storm inconveniencessuch as loss of power and water services, which affected large por-tions of the region during the initialdays and weeks of the storms af-termath.

Maintenance employees returnedto straighten up the port on Mon-day, Sept. 15. Other employees

trickled in during the week. Con-struction resumed on the ports newdock facility. Rail and truck serviceresumed two days later.

The longshoremenmany of whom live in the hardest-hit areasof Southeast Texaspositionedthemselves to unload the M/V BBCDelaware , a wind energy cargo shipthat was the first to enter the Sa-bine-Neches Waterway once itreopened on Sept. 17.

Within ten days of the storm,cargo operations resumed with four ships with power and water wererestored to the entire port.

Port escapes Ikes wrath virtually unscathed; lends a hand to get region back on track

IKE FACTS & FIGURESLANDFALL2:10 a.m. Sept. 13 on the eastern tipof Galveston Island (about 70 milessouthwest of Beaumont) as a Cate-

gory 2 hurricane with winds of 110mph SUSTAINED WINDS (GUSTS)Southeast Texas Regional Airport:70 mph (95 mph)M/V Cape Vincent (berthed at port):70-90 mph (122 mph)RAINFALLSoutheast Texas Regional Airport:5.5 inchesDowntown Beaumont:10.5 inchesSTORM SURGESSabine Pass: 14.7 ftNeches River at Beaumont: 11.2 ftSOURCES: National Weather Service, Beaumont Enterprise ,

USGS

Shrimp boats make their way up the Sabine-Neches Waterway toward the Port of Beau-monts docks. More than 150 vessels sought safe haven from Hurricane Ike at t he port.

Lights on vessels docked at the port were the only signs of electricity the morning after Ike blew through. Power was restored to the entire port in l ess than five days.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (foreground, left)speaks with aides as U.S. Senator John Cornyn (in green jacket) discusses his flightover devastated areas of Southeast Texas with port director Chris Fisher .


4/9

Despite damages to their homes, longshoremen get port running again in only days

Longshoremen returned to work Sept. 18 to unload wind energy cargo from the M/V BBC Delaware at the Harbor Island Marine Terminal. The longshoremen were working just fivedays after the storm even though many of their homes sustained water and wind damage.

Taking a lunch break from working the M/V BBC Delaware , longshoremen eat burgers andfries purchased for them by the port and Irby Banquer of Chaparral Stevedoring. The portprovided lunch for two days in appreciation for the mens quick turnaround and hard work.

Gantry cranes aboard the M/V Federal Patriot lower a windmill blade onto the Harbor IslandMarine Terminal docks on Sept. 22. The M/V F. Spirit unloaded bulk grain downriver at theports grain elevator the same day.

As cargo operations resumed, authorities based portions of the relief effort at the port

Longshoremen remove stacks of wood pulp from the M/V Star Ikebana at the Harbor IslandMarine Terminal on Sept. 22, nine days after Hurricane Ikes landfall. The Ikebana was oneof three ships unloading cargo at the port that day.

A National Guardsman walks among vehicles staged in Lot 10 near the new military officebuilding on Sept. 14. The National Guard arrived at the port during the night after the stormto prepare for relief and rescue operations across Southeast Texas.

Trucks carrying supplies for regional recovery efforts sit in one of the Port of BeaumontsCarroll Street storage lots on Sept. 19. The state of Texas brought in the supplies and U.S.Forest Service officers provided round-the-clock security.

The Port of Beaumont coordinated with sev-eral government agencies before, during andafter Ike: A National Guard Unit staged at the new

military office building for several days. The Cape Vincent sheltered emergency

vehicles and the Cape Victory providedmeals for first responders.

The port served as a secure landing zonefor U.S. Department of Homeland SecuritySecretary Michael Chertoff and U.S. Sena-tor John Cornyn during their visit to thearea.

A staging area for trucks carrying suppliesbrought in by the State of Texas was setup on a vacant storage lot. The federal

government provided security. The U.S. Coast Guard, Texas Parks and

Wildlife and other state and federal agen-cies sheltered boats in the ports transitsheds.

Jefferson County essential personnelstaged buses for jail evacuations and other emergency vehicles at the port.


5/9

(ABOVE) Port maintenance foreman CraigBlanchard carries a loose barrel from theMain Street wharves to his truck; (BELOW)Military containers were arranged as windblocks at the Harbor Island Marine Terminal;(BOTTOM, RIGHT) Sabine Pilots and MoranTowing tugs take shelter during Edouardspassage; (RIGHT) Edouards winds whip theSabine-Neches Waterways surface into abrackish froth.

THE AMERICAN, Texan and Port of Beaumont flags in front of the port administration building were the only objects that took a beating from Tropical Storm Edouard inAugust. Here, the flags ripple in stiff breezes from one of Edouards rain bands as clouds scud past the Jefferson County Courthouse across the street.

Tropical cyclones heading for port are nomatch for years of practice and preparation

OTHER BEAUMONT STORMS

2007: Hurricane Humberto, 90 mphwinds (Category 1)2005: Hurricane Rita, 120 mph winds(Category 3)2004: Tropical Storm Ivan, 40 mphwinds1986: Hurricane Bonnie, 90 mphwinds (Category 1)

Source: NOAA

Though the storm was morethan a day away from landfalland not very organized, Port of Beaumont maintenance spranginto action once Tropical StormEdouard was christened off theLouisiana coast.

Beginning at dawn on Mon-day, Aug. 4, maintenance work-ers picked up loose objects,moved portable buildings intothe transit sheds, checked fuelsupplies, made sure generatorsand vehicles were in workingorder and positioned containers

and rail cars as wind blocks.This drill was nothing new.The port was bracing for its thirdhit from a tropical system in asmany years.

Were well schooled in it(preparation), said port mainte-nance superintendent Sam Se-rio, who has worked at the portfor more than 28 years. Back inthe 1980s, when we were get-ting a hurricane threat everymonth, we naturally knew what

to do.The port follows strict prepara-

tion procedures for any tropicalthreat regardless of its size or strength. As Hurricane Rita in2005 and Hurricane Humbertoin 2007 both demonstrated, theGulf of Mexico is a ripe environ-ment for quickly strengtheningstorms that strike with surpris-ingly brutal effects.

Edouard cruised ashore atSabine Pass before dawn onAug. 5, halting shipping trafficfor one day and buffeting South-

east Texas with 40 to 60 mphwind gusts and drenching rainsfor several hours before dissi-pating over Central Texas.

No damages were reported atthe port, and only minor dam-ages and scattered power out-ages occurred across the re-gion.

Hurricane Gustav posed an-other threat one month later butaimed its fury at the centralLouisiana coast.


6/9

Joking around The OfficeFisher gets star birthday treatment inspired by

one of his favorite television shows, The Office

Accounts payable clerk Dan-ielle Richard (right) hands portdirector Chris Fisher a platter containing his stapler gelledinto a Jell-O mold.

A close-up of the stapler in itslemon-pineapple casing (right).

Lighthearted pranks are a tradi-tion at the port, but getting theguy at the top requires great plan-ning and flawless execution.

Since Chris Fisher loves the

NBC comedy The Office , whatbetter prank to pull than thosecharacter Jim Halpert pulls on co-worker Dwight Schrute?

The idea was the brainchild of port computer operator MistySchexnayder , who enlisted the

help of accounts payable clerkDanielle Richard and humanresources manager Janet Floyd .Floyd hid Fishers stapler andgave a similar one to Richard.

It took a while to figure out howto keep the stapler afloat in theJell-O mixture and remove theentire mold from the bowl the nextmorning intact, but the look onFishers face the next day made itall worthwhile, Richard said.

SISTER ACTThe M/V Cape Vincent returned to the Port of Beaumont in Au-gust after completing a months-long mission overseas.

In the photos, the Mary Moran and her sister tug, the HelenMoran , guide the M/V Cape Vincent back to her layberth next toher sister ship, the M/V Cape Victory , between the Harbor IslandMarine Terminal and the Main Street Wharves.

LEFT: Staples(second fromleft) stands withport boardpresident PeteShelton , com-missioner LeeSmith and di-rector ChrisFisher .

STATE VISITTexas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples visited the Port of Beaumont during a swing through Southeast Texas for Texas RiceDay in June. Staples received a briefing on the ports capital improve-ments and a tour of the facility and discussed his recent trade missionto Cuba. Staples was elected agriculture commissioner in 2006 after several terms in the state senate.


7/9

AIR BOATLongshoremen stack and stow a vessel

atop a vessel for a long journey overseasDuring a July stop to load military cargo at the Port of Beaumont, theEl Faro took on an unconventional itema speedboat the UnitedStates sold to the government of Oman. Since a speedboat wouldntbe the best method of navigating the seas between Beaumont andMuscat, the boat had to be lifted and secured atop the El Faros sternfor the ride.1) Longshoremen position straps hanging from a gantry crane as thecrane operator guides them toward the water. 2) With the strapslowered into the water, the M/V Blanche Marie nudges the boat intoposition. 3) The crane slowly lifts the boat out of the water as long-shoremen steady it with ropes. 4) and 5) The crane gently swings theboat over the dock to lower it on a makeshift stand. 6) and 7) Withthe boat lifted into place on deck, longshoremen remove the strapsand fasten the boat and stand to the El Faro .


8/9

By David BallThe Port Arthur News

BEAUMONT What would happen if terrorists were to attack one of our

Southeast Texas ports? Or if they at-tacked one of our refineries? Pipeline? Atank farm?

Emergency responders do not havethe luxury of dealing with the theoretical.Consequently, the United States CoastGuard put their Semper Paratus motto-Always Ready-to the test with other localagencies as they participated in theSabine-Neches Emergency Coordina-tion and Response exercise [July 15-17]in Beaumont.

The simulated training was in re-sponse to a multi-mode terrorist attack.The command center was headquar-tered at Ford Park.

Bob Stegall is the security specialistfor the USCG Marine Safety Unit in PortArthur and director of the event. He saidthis event has been in the planning for the last three to four years betweenfederal, state and local agencies workingtogether.

Weve had a great response from thethree county judges (Jefferson, Orangeand Hardin counties) and emergencyresponse coordinators, Stegall said.Weve had over 600 city and countyresponders trained in incident com-mand.

The exercise was designed for aregulated response, to pool resourcesand to pool responses. Part of the pool-ing of resources is a statewide programwhere first responders can continueperforming their jobs while other emer-gency personnel gather and look at re-sources to assist them.

There are different targets readilyavailable in the area and some vulner-abilities, but we can respond on sea andon land, Stegall said. We feel this is aprime target area. We train to respondand hone our abilities and capabilitiesand learn some lessons so we can im-prove.

Some of the lessons learned at theterrorist training were gleaned from deal-ing with Hurricane Rita. Stegall saidevery third month, cities conduct emer-gency response team training that in-

volves entire city staffs including citymanagers and city attorneys.Theyre enthusiastic about it. Theyve

seen what happened from Rita and theydont want it to happen again, he said.

Another component of the training isdeveloping a common terminology andcommon paperwork of documentationand ordering supplies. Also, cross-training throughout the state enablesresponders to be called up and relieveothers in emergency situations.

Stegall further said port facilities havebeen spot-checked up and down theGulf Coast and the Coast Guard wasvery pleased with the results and readyto go.

The USCG has also been assistedwith technological advances to utilize for security along with the awarding of portsecurity grants for equipment such asboats, helicopters, etc.

John Owens is deputy chief of thePort Arthur Police Department and theemergency management coordinator for the city. He said regional respondersresponded to simultaneous events dur-ing the terrorist simulations at multiplelocations in the area such as the Mon-tagne Center at Lamar University andthe Port of Beaumont.

The exercises worked on response,communication and recovery.

Stephen L. Curran, fire chief of PortNeches and emergency managementcoordinator for the city, said the multipleevents ranged from Beaumont to SabinePass for practicing response capabili-ties, command and control and whatever else needed to be done.

Its been a friendly encounter and anefficient response. I dont think anyagencies have worked better together inthe entire state of Texas, Curran said.

Copyright 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

(TOP, LEFT) A United States Coast Guard patrol boatguards the security boom across the entrance to the Harbor Island Marine Terminal and the Main Street wharves; (TOP,RIGHT) Port Authority Police Chief Norman Reynolds(center) interviews with Port Arthur News photographer Mike Tobias (left) and KBTV-TV cameraman Chip Fields(right); (BOTTOM) Coast Guard crew members speedthrough a sharp turn shortly after the mock exercises terror alert level rose to MARSEC Level 3.

USCG putsUSCG putsSemper Semper

paratus paratusto test atto test attraining eventtraining event

(Story from the July 17, 2008, edition of the Port Arthur News .Reprinted with permission. Photos by the Port of Beaumont.)


9/9

STAFFDavid C. Fisher , port director Bill Carpenter , deputy director Ernest L. Bezdek , trade development director John Roby , customer service director Kirby Dartez , operations director Al Matulich , dock superintendent Sam Serio , maintenance supervisor Brenda Whitworth , finance director Janet Floyd , human resources manager Norman Reynolds , port authority police chief Mike D. Smith, public relations manager

Comments, questions and suggestions about this publication should be directed to Mike D. Smith, at (409) 835-5367 or m [email protected].

Port of Beaumont Navigation Districtof Jefferson County, Texas

MISSION STATEMENT: The Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County,Texas is responsible to the taxpayers of its district for the improvement of navigation and thedevelopment of maritime shipping and waterborne related commerce to and from its wharves;and for maintenance, development, extension and improvement of wharf and dock facilities of the Port of Beaumont to promote economic growth in our district, the State of Texas and inthe interest of national defense.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSC.A. Pete Shelton , president H.M. Henry Nix, Jr. , vice president Georgine Guillory , secretary-treasurer Floy Nell ClarkLouis Broussard, Jr.Lee E. Smith

Port scenes

Work continues on the new dock facility along the east bank of the Sa-bine-Neches Waterway. Orion Construction began driving piles thissummer, and work was only briefly interrupted by Hurricane Ike. Thenew dock facility is part of the ports capital improvement program.

U.S. Army Col. (Promotable) John OConnor (left), Surface Deploymentand Distribution Command deputy commander, visited the port in Septem-ber. Port director Chris Fisher (center) and Lt. Col. Marshall Ramsey ,commander of the 842nd Transportation Battalion, briefed him on portoperations.

With the Beaumont skyline on the horizon, the Moran tugboat Cape Ann departs along the Sabine-Neches Waterway.

Welcome Aboard (October 2008)

Documents

Transcript of Welcome Aboard (October 2008)