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September 28th 2005 - Source: paperloop.com at
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26, 2005 - Hurricane Rita, the second major storm in a month after Katrina, hit near the Texas and Louisiana border with winds near 120 miles per hour early Saturday morning.
In the wake of the storm, MeadWestvaco said on Monday that its 805,000 ton/yr bleached board mill in Evadale, Texas, along with other extrusion coating and chemical facilities in Texas and Louisiana, sustained some wind and water damage and were not operating.
"Key manufacturing equipment was not significantly impacted, and cleanup operations are now underway. Power remains out at all of the facilities, and company officials are working with area power companies to restore power as quickly as possible," MWV said.
MeadWestvaco anticipates beginning normal operations in the coming days as soon as employees are able to safely return to the area and power is restored.
Boise Paper's 1.0 million ton/yr newsprint and linerboard mill in DeRidder, La., closed ahead of Rita's landfall. Company sources said the facility was affected by strong winds, but did not suffer major damage. Employees were cleaning up and working on restarting operations, pending power restoration.
Temple-Inland's Orange, Texas, 600,000 ton/yr containerboard mill was believed to be down due to its proximity to the landfall of Hurricane Rita's eye, but calls to company officials were not immediately returned. The local media reported continuing power outages in Orange as of Monday afternoon.
Officials with power utilities Beauregard Electric Cooperative (BECi) and Entergy said they were working on the restoration process, but explained that major damage to the system, including transmission lines, substations, utility poles, plus poles, wire spans and transformers occurred as a result of Hurricane Rita.
The threat of crude oil and gasoline prices continues, as futures rebounded after reports that refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., may be shut longer than expected after being damaged by Hurricane Rita.
However, seven of the 15 refineries that had shut ahead of Rita reported plans to restart swiftly, according to media reports.
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