Two regional airports severely damaged by Hurricane Rita will receive federal funds to help restore service.
The Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Beaumont was able to return to near-normal operations on Sept. 28. After sustaining more than $50 million in damages, the Lake Charles Regional Airport in Lake Charles, La., is scheduled to resume commercial operations on Oct. 8.
Continental Connection provides service to Houston from both airports.
A tornado spawned by Hurricane Rita as it came ashore on Sept. 25 destroyed the passenger terminal and hangars at Lake Charles. A newly constructed fire station at the airport is being converted into a temporary passenger terminal, Airport Director Alan Kratzer told Regional Aviation News. However, the first step is to put a roof back on the fire station.
Airport staff members rode out the storm at the airport and began calling in help within an hour after the storm passed. Kratzer said he tapped the resources of airports in the Southeast as part of a mutual aide program set up by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). A team of electricians and building maintenance workers from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport arrived in Lake Charles 10 hours after the storm with building supplies, food and water. The team had been enroute to New Orleans but was diverted to help Lake Charles. The crew left Lake Charles on Sept. 28.
At the peak of the cleanup there were 75 people from other airports on the scene, Kratzer added.
Enough of the runways were cleared for military helicopter operations to resume on Sept. 26 and the runways were open for general aviation and military relief flights on Sept. 27.
While the airport on Sept. 30 was still operating on generators, its water and sewer plants were back in operation and a new security fence was installed, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun assessing damage to radar systems, navigational aids and communication equipment. Most of the navigational equipment has already been restored, he added.
Both Lake Charles and Beaumont airport authorities had been courted earlier in the summer by new air carriers, Small Community Airlines and Pacific Island Airlines, to provide service to Dallas using small turboprops. However, both communities rejected the overtures as not being good fits (RAN, July 25). Kratzer said five casinos in Lake Charles are a potential draw for new passengers. While Rita damaged some of the lake-front casinos, they are all expected to be back in operation in 30 days, he said.
[Copyright 2005 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]
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