Storm's Price Tag Could Reach a Record $26 Bln.
stimates of Hurricane Katrina’s economic damage were still coming in Tuesday, and ranged from $9 billion to as high as $26 billion, news services reported.
Reuters reported that Katrina could top 1992’s Hurricane Andrew as the most expensive hurricane ever to hit the United States, with estimates ranging as high as $26 billion.
Andrew, which hit south Florida in 1992, led to $20.5 billion in insurance claims, Bloomberg reported. Last year was the costliest ever for U.S. natural disasters, as four hurricanes led to $22.9 billion in insured claims, Bloomberg said.
ort Fourchon, La., one of the key entry points for Gulf oil, was extensively flooded, though full estimates of the damage were not yet available, CNBC reported Tuesday.
Barges and railroads heading to or from New Orleans and Mississippi ports such as Pascagoula and Gulfport ground to a halt, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported.
The Port of New Orleans is served by six major U.S. railroads, and trains were moved out of the area over the weekend, Knight Ridder said. Kansas City Southern and CSX Corp. halted port-related rail activity in both Louisiana and Mississippi.
Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis told Transport Topics that the nation’s largest railroad detoured 12 trains from New Orleans switching yards on Saturday, the day before Katrina came ashore.
The trains were sent to Memphis, Tenn., or St. Louis, where their cars were regrouped and sent out in other trains to East Coast destinations, he said.
Davis said all freight destined for New Orleans has been held back and an embargo on all future shipments would be maintained until a damage assessment crew could get out to the tracks to determine what shape they are in.
Norfolk Southern said it had embargoed all shipments to New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., to avoid further congestion in the area expected to be impacted by Katrina. The railroad said its customers with traffic in areas impacted by Katrina should anticipate delays.
