[Freight Weekly] Hurricane Helene to Interrupt Ports Throughout Florida

🌀Hurricane Helene to grow into a major storm by landfall🌀

At the time of this writing, the federal National Hurricane Center reports that Helene will make landfall as a “major hurricane.” Set to make landfall in the Big Bend region of the Florida panhandle, cargo ports throughout the area and the rest of the state are closed:

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 61 of the 67 counties due to the expected storm-force winds brought on by Hurricane Helene.

• Pres. Joe Biden accepted the state of emergency declaration made by Gov. DeSantis making federal resources available for regional and local authorities.

• Emergency services in several counties have ordered mandatory evacuations, including in Wakulla County, a rural county with a population of just over 30,000.

• Wakulla County Sheriff Jared Miller warned residents on Facebook that Helene “will not be a survivable event for those in coastal or low-lying areas” and that “there has not been a storm of this magnitude to hit Wakulla in recorded history.”

• Hurricane Helene’s max sustained winds have increased to 120 mph with even higher gusts, making it a Category 3 hurricane, per National Hurricane Center.

• "Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to weeks after the storm passes," the National Hurricane Center says of Category 3-classified storms.

• The U.S. Coast Guard has declared the condition Zulu, leading to port closures in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Manatee, St. Joe, and Panama City.

• Port Tampa Bay advised in a press release, “The port's shipping channels have closed, but landside operations will continue as long as safely possible.”

• “All vessel movements and port waterfront operations shall cease,” reads a release from SeaPort Manatee, pointing to the COTP order declaring Zulu.

Bottom line: Hurricane Helene will have a dramatic impact on shipping and trade in the coming days. Aftermath and potential damage could additionally impact supply chains.

MORE: “FedEx, US Postal Service halt some Florida deliveries” - Supply Chain Dive 

CONTEXT: “Hurricane Helene Disrupts Florida Supply Chain…” - Sourcing Journal

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📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

😓USMX files complaint with labor board amid East Coast port strike: East Coast port employers are asking the National Labor Relations Board to bring the International Longshoremen’s Association back to the negotiation table as potentially catastrophic labor strike and work stoppage could begin next week. The strike would impact 36 ports.

🤑West Coast ports see surges as holiday shopping prospects are high: Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told stakeholders that “some of the cargo arriving now is replenishing inventories even beyond the year-end holiday season.” This foreshadows a huge holiday shopping season forecasted at $240.8 bil.

🧑🏽‍⚖️Judge approves the East Palestine derailment settlement: A federal district judge approved a $600 million class-action settlement between Norfolk Southern and the residents of the village of East Palestine, Ohio, in the latest aftermath development.

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