Natural catastrophes

9.9, Hurricane Gustav

US: a single scrap metal company was responsible for all of about 70 barges and ships that floated loose in a major city canal during hurricane “Gustav,” threatening flood walls and a bridge, according to the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard launched a formal investigation into whether New Orleans-based Southern Scrap followed a plan for securing ships and barges before a dangerous storm. It also barred the company from keeping any vessels in the canal during the rest of the 2008 hurricane season, which ends Nov 30, and said it would review the order for future seasons. The vessels, mostly barges but also two decommissioned Navy ships, got loose during Gustav in the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal. Some of the vessels crashed into an interior flood wall, a bridge and industrial warehouses.