[Freight Weekly] Supply Chains Squeezed HARD by the Hurricanes

🔥Hurricanes Helene and Milton walloped Florida and the Southeast United States. The ripples of supply chain disruption will be felt for weeks, possibly months after.

While the damage and costs are still being added up, the overall harm of both historic storms will be worth tens of billions each — over $100 billion together. Adding the harm done to supply chain networks, the economic fallout will be just as costly for Americans:

• CBS News reports Helene and Milton are “truly historic” storms with valuations of damage totaling over $50 billion each. NOAA tracks storms with damage totaling over $1 billion. Helene's costs might be worse given the fact that most damage that was reported, about 95 percent, comes from uninsured property.

• S&P Global reports that storm recovery costs will further exacerbate the costs of living and associated costs in the impacted regions of both Helene and Milton.

• However, it is the harms of the supply chains impacted by the storms that will most certainly drive over damage. The storm impacted port operations, rail networks, trucking, and air cargo. Now, the aftermath will be felt in full force.

• For example, Florida’s ports are critical in global trade between North and South America. Since ports throughout the state were ordered to condition Zulu for so long, cargo dwell time has expanded, and delays in shipments are being noticed.

• Helene has caused major property and casualty losses while disrupting the global semiconductor and supply chains, affecting many industries—directly & indirectly.

• Luckily, the impacts felt by Helene and Milton are expected to return to normal as soon as possible. Tampa Bay Times reports that deliveries locally could depend on infrastructure conditions and safety, among several more underlying factors.

Bottom line: The totality of the damage and disruption linked to Helene and Milton will not be known immediately. However, it will be costly and felt across the country — via the costs to recover from the storms and the expenses expected from supply chain recovery.

CONTEXT: Facing The Eye of the Storm: The Aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton

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📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

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🙃Panama Canal crossings down 29 percent over the past year: AFP reports, per the Panama Canal Authority, that crossings in the canal fell by 29 percent due to drought.

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