In our final post for January, we look back on a very proud moment for Cenac. Cenac Marine Services and CEO, Benny Cenac, had a phenomenal 2017 full of giving back and partnering with several different organizations and schools within the local Houma and Southern Louisiana community. Mr. Cenac prides himself and his company on giving back, building relationships, and always helping others when they are in need- which brings up the “proud moment” opportunity Cenac was presented with during the devastating land fall of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.
As Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Friday August 25th, many were caught off guard and not prepared for what was to come. The complete opposite can be said for Cenac Marine Boat Crews as they saved the day in more ways than one.
To paint a picture of how the proud moment play out… Located in the Old River, a narrow offshoot of the San Jacinto River in Channelview, 17 miles east of Houston, are three of Cenac’s inland boats- the Henry Cenac, Weezie Cenac and Tutty Cenac. Luckily, for surrounding barges, the Captains and crew on these boats were fully prepared and on the lookout day and night after landfall of Hurricane Harvey.
According to captain’s logs from the Cenac vessels, things started to get hairy at the Boone dock as Saturday turned to Sunday. Luke Pierce, captain of the Tutty, wrote there were about 30 barges tied up on the west side of the river and another 25 or so on the east side. Steve Lockwood had his team on the Weezie keeping watch of the situation around the clock, with the crew on standby for any barge making a move. Greg Rodrigue, captain of the Henry, said he was up at midnight monitoring the situation, as well.
From runaway barges to preventing a large amount of turmoil that would have occurred had the Cenac crew not been involved, it is safe to say they saved the day. Mr. Benny still applauds his crews to this day for the bravery and intelligence they acted on over the next few days after Harvey made landfall. “Cenac Marine has had the SMS hurricane policy in place for years and it has proven to be effective. Our captains know that the safest place for them and their crew is on our Cenac vessels. Every boat is made with hurricane shatter proof windows that are bolted in as an added precaution,” Cenac said. “Also, all of our boat captains and crew members are always instructed to react accordingly and to assist anyone at any time when in need of help, whether it be a competitor or not. We are thankful that everyone successfully and safely worked together to avoid any damage to crew members or equipment.”
Hurricane Harvey was a situation we would never want our fellow Louisianians and Texas neighbors to endure. However, we are proud of our team for being in the right place when they were needed most. They came through to help those in a desperate time of need, and for that reason, this is our proud moment of 2017. To read more about this story visit Houma Today.