a barge After colliding with the bridge connecting Galveston and Pelican Island, it caused major disruption for people in the Galveston, Texas, area, leaving people stranded on the island and briefly losing power.
“Approximately 11 miles of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway had to be closed due to an oil spill from a barge.”
Just before 10 a.m. Wednesday, a tugboat pushing two barges lost control and one barge, owned by Martin Petroleum, crashed into an unused railroad track and two utility poles along the Pelican Island Causeway. There was a collision.
“The current was very bad and the tide was high. He lost.” David Floresbridge supervisor for the Galveston County Waterways District.
This causeway is the only means by vehicle to access Pelican Island, home of Texas A&M University in Galveston.
The collision caused part of the track to collapse onto the barge. two individuals As a result of the accident, those on board the barge either fell or jumped into the sea, but were quickly rescued. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
This accident also caused many inconveniences to people on land. First, the bridge had to be closed for hours, leaving Pelican Island residents stranded. Authorities are considering evacuating the island by boat, but it is unclear whether any residents have been evacuated from the island yet.
Pelican Island too lost power For some time after the collision, but soon secondary sources emerge. restored At TAMU in Galveston, there will likely be few people on campus due to graduation ceremonies held earlier this month, but the university has offered Captain’s Landing as a place for those still on campus to get food.
Finally, 6.5 miles of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway had to be closed due to an oil spill from a barge. The barge had an oil capacity of 30,000 gallons and was leaking what was described as “vacuum gas oil.” The extent of the oil spill has not yet been determined, but U.S. Coast Guard officials are assessing the situation and are expected to issue an update and report on containment measures in the coming days.
People in Galveston can still drive along Harborside Drive, but police are on scene to divert traffic away from the bridge.One lane of the bridge has already been completed reportedly It has reopened, but Texas Department of Transportation officials will determine when normal traffic can safely resume.
Martin Petroleum did not return calls from . Reuters Requesting comments.
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