Hurricane Matthew caused minor damage at ports from North Carolina to Florida, but operations have returned to normal, except at the Port of Savannah.
Ports and railroads in the Southeastern U.S. are set to resume full, or
partial, operations Monday after spending the weekend cleaning up and assessing
damage from Hurricane Matthew.
The Port of Charleston,
despite flooding in the historic downtown area, is operating as normal, the
South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) said in an advisory posted online. Vessels are
being worked and gates at container yards are open for truckers at the Wando
Welch and North Charleston terminals.
SCPA Port Director Jim Newsome
tweeted Saturday that port terminals escaped significant damage.
There was some water and wind
impact to warehouses roofs and sheeting, but there is no evidence of any damage
to mobile equipment or cranes, spokeswoman Erin Dhand said in an e-mail Monday
morning.
Further south, container
operations at the Port of Savannah are expected to resume Monday evening, with
gate operations slated to resume Tuesday morning. The U.S. Coast Guard and
harbor pilots are assessing the Savannah river navigation channel and vessel
transits are anticipated to begin Tuesday morning, the Georgia Ports Authority
(GPA) announced.
Power has been restored at
both the Garden City and Ocean terminals in Savannah, as well as at the Port of
Brunswick. Rail service is available for all terminals, the GPA said.
The Port of Jacksonville,
which took the full brunt of the massive storm, is open again for business. “All good here and back to
normal,” Communications Director Nancy Rubin said via text.
Port Canaveral, in the center
of Florida’s east coast, only experienced minimal damage despite high winds and
heavy rain, the port authority said Friday night. Vessel traffic resumed
Saturday after survey teams found no navigable obstructions. Cargo piers were
undamaged, with minor damage to cruise terminals. Some port tenants experienced
damage to their properties, officials said.
Port Everglades said it has reopened, while Port Miami has also announced it has returned to normal operations.
“We are fully
operational and cruise and cargo vessels have returned with no issues,”
spokeswoman Rosalind Harvey said in an e-mail on Monday.
In North Carolina, the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City returned Monday
to a normal operating schedule, the port authority announced.
Container
operations at the Port of Virginia are operating as normal, but administrative
offices and the inland barge terminal in Richmond are closed for Columbus Day.
The container freight stations and out-of-gauge operations are also closed in
the Norfolk area.
To assist the community with recovery from Hurricane Matthew, the
Canaveral Port Authority is providing up to 100,000 square feet of space in the
new Port Canaveral Logistics Center in Titusville to the American Red Cross to
store relief supplies.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said cargo
clearance will resume at ports once they restore full operations.
Meanwhile,
Norfolk Southern said its railroad routes to Jacksonville, Brunswick,
Savannah and Charleston have been restored to service. The freight railroad is
working to restore service east of Selma, N.C., to New Bern, and is experiencing
localized flooding in the Norfolk, Va., area. More than 2,000 trees have been
cleared from the tracks already, the railway said. Cargo may need to be switched to
alternative routes, and once service is restored, customers may still experience
delays of two to three days in areas impacted by the storm, NS said.
CSX, the other major eastern railroad, said crews are working around the clock to fully restore service. The railroad established service into Florida with the exception of crossing SunRail through the Orlando area. As of Saturday, service remained suspended from Savannah through Pembroke, N.C. And switching operations remain closed in Savannah, Charleston and Wilmington.
All of CSX’s Jacksonville facilities, including its headquarters, are operational this morning, spokeswoman Kristin Seay said.
