Case Study of the Transportation Sector's Response to and Recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

This case study examines the transportation sector’s response to and recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the effect these disruptions had on the national-level movement of freight. In August and September of 2005, the U.S. Gulf Coast was struck by two major hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Although attention has focused primarily on the human tragedy—especially the loss of life and property resulting from flooding and breaches of the New Orleans levees— the two hurricanes did major damage to the road, rail, waterborne, and pipeline networks serving the Gulf Coast and linking the Gulf Coast to the rest of the nation. Transportation was seriously disrupted. Key railroad bridges were destroyed, requiring the rerouting of traffic and putting increased strain on other rail segments. Barge shipping was halted as was export grain traffic out of the Port of New Orleans, the nation’s largest export grain port. The pipeline network that gathers oil and natural gas from the Gulf was shut down, producing shortages of natural gas and petroleum products. A study of the hurricanes’ effects provides an opportunity to understand better the vulnerability of the national and regional freight transport systems to disruption and destruction. This case study was commissioned by the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Climate Change and U.S. Transportation as part of its mandate to focus on and emphasize the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation and adaptation strategies. The case study describes the road, rail, waterborne, pipeline, and air transportation systems of the Gulf Coast and the roles they play in the national and regional transportation system. It catalogs the damage to these systems from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It identifies the steps that were taken and that remain to be taken to restore the region’s transportation infrastructure, including reported estimates of cost and time. It concludes with observations and lessons learned about the transportation sector’s response to and recovery from the hurricanes. The scope of the case study is limited. It focuses on the national and regional transportation facilities in the central Gulf Coast region, not on city and local transportation systems. It focuses on freight transportation, not on passenger transportation. It recognizes but does not catalog the extensive damage to county and local roads, industrial rail spurs, and the urban street and local transit systems within New Orleans and the other heavily damaged coastal cities and towns. It reports the national and regional impacts of disrupted supply chains, but does not attempt to estimate the economic cost to local businesses, industrial sectors, or the national economy. Finally, it relies on secondary sources, including newspaper articles, industry journals, and government reports. The case study provides a reasonably comprehensive overview of the national and regional transportation system response to and recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but not a full and detailed accounting. It provides one perspective on the disaster that befell New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities, but does not tell the whole story.