Freight railroads monitor Hurricane Delta’s path in Gulf

The U.S. Class I railroads with operations in the Gulf Coast region are preparing for potential service disruptions when Hurricane Delta makes landfall later this week.

“Precautionary actions are being taken to protect infrastructure and rail equipment is being repositioned away from low-lying areas around New Orleans,” Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) said in a Wednesday operations update. “Norfolk Southern is working with customers located in the forecasted region to identify switching needs and with interchange partners to move certain shipments over alternate interchange gateways. Ongoing updates will be provided as this storm system progresses.”

Hurricane Delta could potentially reach as high as a Category 3 status when it makes landfall on U.S. soil late Thursday. The hurricane already landed in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula early Wednesday as a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 mph, FreightWaves reported. The storm will likely weaken as it moves across Mexico, but it could gather strength when it passes over the warm waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Delta is the 25th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic season and the ninth hurricane, according to the FreightWaves report. The railroads also prepared their networks before Hurricanes Laura and Sally hit in August and September.