After hurricane Katrina we saw how very deadly barges could be in water off the coast. In the future we need to be able to secure barges prior to hurricanes. But how can we secure them in a way, which will prevent them from becoming a problem? Even if we make laws that the company anchor them properly, some are practically abandoned, then what? What if there is no way to secure them and as the Hurricane Approaches without exact landfall known where can you take it? The problem is you cant. Perhaps all barges need to be taken up river a minimum of 15-miles, so no storm surge pushes the tide up where ever it is up river they are taken. Additionally we should load on them anything in the area that may become a hazard and take that up river too. Anything that could become a battering ram in a storm surge causing more damage. We are learning that with 30 foot storm surges that Mother Nature packs a wallop and we cannot expect these storm surges to be at least this high in harbors and inlets where the water is forced into smaller and tighter confines. We must turn these abandoned or unused barges into tools and keep the Hurricanes from using them for weapons to destroy near ocean infrastructure like bridges, piers and levees. If we fail to clear them out before the storm, then we know they will be a liability to us later, we just do not know if we will be lucky or if we will be on the losing end of the deal. Consider this in 2006. |
