Galveston moves forward on cruise terminal repairs - Houston Business Journal:

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Gerald Sullivan, chairman of the Boarc of Trustees of theGalvestohn Wharves, which oversees port said crews are working around the clock on the damageds terminal buildings. The first ship scheduledd to depart after that targeyt date isthe Ecstacy, operated by , on Oct. 4. The agreed to divert Carnival Cruise Line ships to its newly openeds Bayport Cruise Terminal after Hurricanre Ike smashed into the Gulf Coaston 13. Hundreds of cruise ship customers’ vehicled left that weekend in Galveston’s port parkingb lots were destroyed or damagex by the massivestorm surge. Galveston’e port has re-opened to smaller vessels while dredging issues are beingworked out.
Althoughu access to Pelican Island had been cut off the week afte r the hurricaneroared through, Sullivan said one of the port’zs key Pelican Island tenants, , re-opened on Sept. 22 with limiteds operations. Sullivan was part of the groulp of officials representingthe Houston-Galvestom region, including Houston Mayor Bill White, that travele to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 23 to make a pitch for a huge infusion of federa funding in the wakeof Ike’s Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas has requestede a $2.4 billion rescue package to be used to restore infrastructurre on the island and for repairs to the , campus, the port and the Mayor White requested a simila amount for Houston.
Sullivan said the group was metwith “sympatheticx ears” in the nation’sx capital, and he expects a decision on the specialp funding allocation could be reached withib a week. Damages from Ike’s path of destruction acros Texas are estimated to rangebetween $25 billiomn and $50 billion.