The Port of Galveston hosted the 98th AAPA Convention during the last week of October just over a year after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas port city of Galveston, sinking the city’s historic downtown under ten feet of water.
A major cargo hub and one of the Gulf Coast’s primary cruise ports, the Port suffered substantial and widespread damage with heavy water damage to port equipment, buildings, and piers. Located 50 miles south of Houston, Galveston is located on a 30-mile barrier island that averages only 2 miles wide. Ships can reach the open sea in about 30 minutes, compared to several hours need to reach the Port of Houston. At the end of the 19th century, Galveston was the largest city in Texas and the third-busiest port in the country. But then, on September 8, 1900, a massive storm came ashore, carrying with it 140-mph winds and a 20-foot surge that washed completely over the island. More than 6,000 islanders, a sixth of the island’s population, were drowned. Work was then started to raise the city’s ground level by up to 17 feet and a massive seawall along 10 miles of shoreline, with several jetties of large granite blocks projecting out into the water. Though the seawall failed to completely stem Hurricane Ike, it definitely prevented an even worse disaster last year. The Port’s cargo handling ability was operational in just over a week. “We had scheduled cargo operations that had to happen. On the eighth day after the storm the first ship came in to unload roll on, roll off cargo. We were going to make sure that this was going to happen and once our cargo customers saw we were very sincere, they stayed,” said Steve Cernak, Port Director of the Port of Galveston. The Carnival Cruise Lines terminal was refurbished and back on line in less than two months. The Port of Galveston’s environmental policy includes recycling building materials from outdated cotton warehouses for use in other projects, the implementation of a solar powered demonstration project in 2010 and the replacement of diesel engines on some port equipment. The Port of Galveston is being rebuilt to current severe weather specifications. “I’m a CEO but I’m also an engineer, so I understand these things. We’ll utilize elevation increases where appropriate and will do all that’s necessary to mitigate future damage. We have a chance here to do things properly,” Cernak says.
