[Freight Weekly] Hurricane Milton Damage Compounds Supply Chains

🌀Mother Earth is back for round two with Hurricane Milton. Here’s the latest:

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida this week. Adding to the already damaging impact of Helene, the Milton storm’s damage will be felt across global supply chains. In this issue of Freight Weekly, we discuss hurricanes’ damage and the impacts of extreme weather events on domestic and international trade, especially as we near the holidays.

• Hurricane Milton’s death toll at the time of this writing is 12 after the major storm made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Power is out for at least 3 million folks, and infrastructure is damaged, as combined damage with Helene is worth billions.

• 10 ports on the Gulf Coast are currently held at the port condition Zulu due to Hurricane Milton’s damages, per orders of the U.S. Coast Guard area command.

• These ports include Port Tampa Bay, SeaPort Manatee, and terminals across the storm’s landfall area. Virginia Zimmermann, spokesperson for SeaPort Manatee, told Freight Waves in a statement, “At this time the port is without power and in the process of assessing damage.” An advisory from Port Tampa Bay says that port authorities are coordinating with the Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to “assess our landside and seaside operations,” via an online note.

• Recent reporting by the Institute for Supply Management highlights that Florida’s major ports “could experience severe damage, affecting imports and exports.”

• Sara Saberi, associate professor of operations and industrial engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, told the institute, “This will likely delay shipments of key materials and consumer goods, impacting national supply chains.”

• Class I rail carriers are also assessing damage as rail systems were impacted. CSX, Norfolk Southern, and commuter lines wound down operations to ensure safety and evacuation compliance. However, the catastrophe of Milton and Helene has led to rail line damage across Florida and the Southern states.

• Chase Gunnoe, a railroad industry professional, wrote in a commentary for Trains.com that he believes CSX and Norfolk Southern will have to rebuild.

• Disruptions in the national supply chain will be felt into the peak shipping season for the holidays quickly approaching as it is the fourth quarter of the year.

Bottom line: The point here is that, well, our Mother Earth isn’t done with the hurricanes. Milton was regarded as one of the worst-ever recorded storms by the National Hurricane Center. Helene’s initial estimate for damages is in the tens of billions. Expect more, folks.

MORE: Photos: Hurricane Milton brings devastation across Florida, NPR

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📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

✊🏼ILA East and Gulf Coast port strike ended but with lingering impacts: After three days, the International Longshoremen Association and port employers represented by USMX reached a tentative agreement to resume negotiations and extend the Master Contract to January 2025. However, those three days were “crippling.” At least, that is what DHL Global Forwarding has analyzed in a LinkedIn insight posted by the company: “While the strike has been called off after three days, we expect that it will take 3-4 weeks to clean up and get vessels back on their rotation schedules.” Read more right here…

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