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The Coast Guard is on duty in Port Arthur and beyond fixing navigation outages and securing floating debris, which could pose a hazard to local water goers in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.

“Mariners should use extreme caution transiting through waterways in Lake Charles and Port Arthur due to aids to navigation outages and floating debris,” said Chief Warrant Officer Matt Fonville of Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston, aids to navigation officer.

“We are still assessing damages but our teams are working extremely hard to recover and set aids back on their assigned position to ensure the safe and timely reopening of critical waterways.”

Aids to navigation can provide a boater with the same type of information drivers get from street signs, stop signals, road barriers, detours and traffic lights.

These aids range from lighthouses, to minor lights, day beacons, range lights and sound signals, to lighted or unlighted buoys.

Approximately 2,108 aids to navigation assets were potentially impacted, damaged or moved off station due to Hurricane Laura.

All hazards should be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command center on VHF Channel 16 or by phone at 281-464-4800.