BATON ROUGE -- Two of the Gulf of Mexico's biggest ports re-opened for business during the weekend, less than 48 hours after Hurricane Rita roared ashore at the Texas-Louisiana border.

The ports and airports at Houston and New Orleans were operating Monday, but ports closer to the hurricane's landfall -- Lake Charles, La.; and Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas -- remain shuttered. The Port of Galveston, Texas also was closed Monday.

At the ports of Houston, Galveston and Texas City last week, 50 ships were evacuated from the port and sent to the Gulf to outrace the hurricane in open water.

The ports of Beaumont and Port Arthur suffered a major hit. Both cities have suffered severe wind damage, flooding and massive power outages.

In Lake Charles early Saturday morning shortly after midnight, news reports indicated a 200-foot-long container ship broke free from its mooring and drifted on the lake.

One firm, AIR Worldwide, predicted $2.5 billion to $5 billion in insured losses on the Texas-Louisiana coast from Hurricane Rita. Another, EQECAT, predicted $9 billion to $18 billion.

-- Janet Plume,