Railroads Preparing for and Dealing With Tropical Storm Francine

This storm damage on MTA is representative of the type of damage from tropical storms and hurricanes.

Marc A. Herman/MTA

ATLANTA –– Three Class I railroads have issued sevice alerts in association with the landfall of Tropical Storm Francine.

While tropical storms are not as damaging as hurricanes, they can do significant to railroad infrastructure, such as knock out service on various lines and delay customer shipments for several days, at least. Below are recent customer advisories from Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and BNSF. To stay current on the status of the story, check the railroad websites at nscorp.com, up.com, and bnsf.com.

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern is monitoring Tropical Storm Francine which is forecasted to strengthen as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico.  T/S Francine is currently expected to make landfall Wednesday, September 11 as a Category 2 hurricane.   

Currently, there are no impacted service areas and Norfolk Southern is operating as scheduled. However, the Port of New Orleans is planning to close the flood gates between 1800 – 2000 this evening.  This will impact local as well as interchange traffic in New Orleans.  Norfolk Southern will work with connecting carriers to utilize alternative gateways where possible.  We will provide updates as needed.

Customers with shipments moving through the southeast and mid-Atlantic should prepare for delays.  If you have questions on Merchandise shipments, please contact Customer Logistics at [email protected]. If you have questions on Intermodal shipments, please contact Intermodal Customer Logistics at [email protected].up.

Union Pacific

We are currently monitoring Tropical Storm Francine as it approaches the western Gulf of Mexico coast. The storm is expected to curve northward, impacting the south coast of Texas and Louisiana mid-week.

We are making preparations along our network to respond quickly to potential outages. Measures taken in advance of the storm include:

• Staging generators, rail ballast and panels, additional diesel fuel, hotels, and supplemental transportation for crews.
• Our Signal Team will begin securing rail crossing signal gates.
• Water pumps have been strategically positioned to mitigate damage.
• We’ve established a Command Center to facilitate emergency coordination.
• We are contacting customers in the expected storm path to aid in proactive planning and to ensure a quick recovery.

To ensure you are properly prepared, please visit our Hurricane Planning and Recovery Page, which outlines best practices to follow during the hurricane season.

Source: Accuweather

As conditions develop, we will continue to provide updates on this weather system and the status of our network. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care & Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.

BNSF

BNSF is preparing for a hurricane expected to impact portions of the Gulf Coast. Storm watches and tropical storm warnings are in effect for the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, with heavy rains, coastal flooding and gusty winds expected. Tropical Storm Francine, currently located off northeastern Mexico and Southern Texas is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane later today. As it continues moving northeast through the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center estimates that Francine will land in Southern Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon.

Interchanging traffic in the region is expected to stop this evening while monitoring of levees and flood gates will continue through the duration of the storm. Due to the flooding concerns, BNSF has issued a temporary permit embargo affecting all traffic originating or destined to move through the area. Customers can submit permit requests and obtain more information through this online form. Embargoes are temporary holds placed on freight to restrict the acceptance and handling of freight. You can search embargoes at the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Embargo Railinc website (enter “BNSF” in the Issuing Road field to view active embargoes).

We have also activated an around-the-clock command center, and our operating teams are in communication with other rail carriers as well as local, state and federal emergency personnel. Additional resources have been staged at various locations to quickly address any impacts to the network. Customers with shipments scheduled to move into the region should expect delays throughout the duration of this hurricane event.

If you have questions regarding a shipment(s), please utilize the Message Us feature on the BNSF Customer Portal (must be registered/logged in to access) or contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673.

As always, we appreciate your business and will continue to provide customers with further updates.