U.S. Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Ida

CHICAGO - Sept 1 Reuters - Grain shippers on the U.S. Gulf Coast reported more damage to their terminals on Wednesday as Cargill Inc confirmed damage to a second facility, while power outages across southern Louisiana kept all others shuttered.

Global grain trader Cargill Inc said its Westwego, Louisiana, terminal was damaged by Hurricane Ida, days after verifying more extensive damage at its only other global grain export facility located in Reserve.

Hurricane Ida, which roared ashore on Sunday, has disrupted grain and soybean exports from the Gulf Coast, account for about 60% of U.S. exports, at a time when global supplies are tight and demand is strong from China.

Emergency authorities were still surveying the destruction, as numerous barges and boats were sunk in the lower Mississippi River while other debris has obstructed the navigation channel, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The major shipping waterway remains closed to ship traffic from the Mississippi-Missouri border to the Gulf of Mexico, shipping sources said.

Mike Strain, the commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, saw scores of barges and at least five ships grounded during a flyover of the river.

He said the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard anticipate opening the upper Mississippi, going northward from Baton Rouge, to Columbia by later today so that we can move ships. The Army Corps of Engineers did not immediately respond to the request for comment.

Strain said on the Lower Mississippi, authorities aim to remove the section from Nine Mile Point and open the section in seven days.

There are still transmission lines in the river, and those must be removed before there can be safe passage, Strain said. He said high water levels were making it harder to get stuck ships and barges moving again.

Cargill is still assessing the extent of the damage and does not yet know how soon its grain loading and shipping operations will resume at the busiest U.S. grains port, Cargill spokeswoman April Nelson said.

Rival exporter CHS Inc is diverting its export shipments scheduled for the next month through its Gulf Coast terminal as the hurricane knocked out a transmission line that powers its Pacific Northwest terminal, the company said.

Other shippers, including Bunge Ltd and Archer-Daniels Midland Co are still assessing damage to their locations, although all are still without power, the companies said.

Power may not be restored for weeks. Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio; editorial by C.H. Humphstutter in Chicago; Revision in Chicago