NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard closed all ports from New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Katrina early Monday.

The Coast Guard had set Hurricane Condition X-Ray, or Condition Three, for affected ports Saturday, meaning the ports were open for departing vessels, but no vessels were allowed to come into port with the exception of inland barge traffic.

The huge storm, packing winds in excess of 135 mph, slammed into the northern Gulf Coast near the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 4 hurricane Monday morning. An estimated 1 million residents had fled the city under a mandatory evacuation order.

All oceangoing, commercial vessels and oceangoing barges greater than 200 gross tons not approved to remain in port were ordered out prior to the setting of Condition Yankee, or Condition Two, at 2 p.m. Sunday. None of these vessels are permitted to anchor within territorial waters.

Osprey Line moved its vessels from New Orleans up the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge to ride out the storm, according to President Rick Couch. The Sea Trader, which provides cross-Gulf service, left Houston for Tampa late Sunday, to avoid Katrina. The ship will arrive in Tampa on Wednesday.

"Normally we're in Tampa on Monday. Very likely we won't be able to make the New Orleans call, so we'll be right back on schedule," Couch said. After the storm, he said it will take the Coast Guard a few days to check navigational aids."

Couch said he's already been in touch with agencies to ferry relief supplies into New Orleans by barge from any of his other terminals.

Barge fleets were ordered to reduce their fleets as much as possible and begin to shift unloaded barges to appropriate safe shelter.


The Coast Guard has established a Web site - http://www.uscgstormwatch.com/external/index.cfm?cid=1008 - aimed at disseminating hurricane-related information to the maritime community.


The hurricane also forced Union Pacific and other major rail operators to halt freight traffic in and out of New Orleans, delaying shipments of chemicals and coal, officials at those companies said on Monday.

New Orleans is a large central connection city for the rails because manufacturers carry industrial supplies such as chemicals and parts to factories in the southern U.S. as well as moving containers across the country.

UP, the nation's largest railroad, runs 25 trains a day in and out of New Orleans. The company said it suspended traffic in and out of the city on Sunday when the flood gates were closed to brace for the storm.

The rail companies said they moved supplies - such as power generators, chain saws and rail ties - into the area to repair any damaged lines once the storm passes.

BNSF Railway, the nation's second-largest railroad, runs four trains a day in and out of New Orleans, while Norfolk Southern said it runs 10 to 12 trains a day in and out of the city.

Both have suspended service to and from New Orleans.

By Janet Plume