Port Fourchon returning to normal, assessing damages

A bit of good news came from Port Fourchon yesterday as power was completely restored to the port.

According to Executive Director Leigh Guidry, things are fully operational after being on generator power until last week.

“We’re slowly getting back to normal,” she said. “At least with power we can fully start our cleanup efforts.”

Included in the cleanup is the debris for port tenants.

“All they have to do is call the port commission office and we’ll place them on a pickup list,” Guidry said.

In addition, all roads to port facilities have been reopened as well as the public boat launch, Nerby Collins Marina Belle Pass and all port waterways with a maximum 20-foot draft.

On Sept. 18 the Army Corps of Engineers received a bid for dredging Belle Pass. Guidry said they anticipate full channel depth to be restored by mid-October.

The only restrictions are Bayou Lafourche from the Larose floodgates to Belle Pass channel, which is a “No Wake” zone at the moment and Fourchon Beach, which won’t reopen for some time.

In a previous interview with the Tri-Parish Times following Hurricane Ike, Port Director Ted Falgout said the two storms worsened what were already poor beach conditions.

“”We have major beach erosion,” Falgout said. “This storm (Ike) came on top of already poor beach conditions.”

Currently, only Chevron employees are allowed beyond the gate on the Fourchon Bridge until further notice.

However, Guidry said the further notice could be months, in large part due to the jetties being damaged after a pounding from Hurricane Gustav.

The most severe damage occured to the eastern jetty, where the entrance channel took on debris and was damaged. Ike didn’t help it.

An estimated cost of damages, along with lost revenue has yet to be determined according to Guidry. She said numbers are still being calculated to determine exactly how much was lost because things are just now getting back.

“We really won’t know any of those things right now,” she said. “We assume it’s a good bit but we don’t know exactly how much we lost during the storm. As for damage cost, we are finding new stuff everyday, so we won’t have any kind of estimation until we get everything back together.”

In his previous interview, Falgout said the estimated cost of damage was nearly $20 million, but that was subject to change.

With things back up in Fourchon the curfew has been lifted and business owners, camp owners, employees, deliveries and other commercial traffic are allowed in.

The port is now open 24/7 for boat traffic as well.

“We are trying to get things back to normal,” Guidry explained. “We’re getting there, it’ll just take a little more time.”