Jacksonville cranes damaged in thunderstorm

Jacksonville cranes damaged in thunderstorm Strong winds from a thunderstorm severely damaged cranes at the Port of Jacksonville’s Blount Island terminal Wednesday afternoon.
   Two cranes appear to be destroyed and a third damaged; engineers are determining if two other cranes at the terminal were affected in the incident.
   Spokesman Nancy Rubin said that a gust of wind appears to have pushed one of the cranes along the rail into the others, with the result that the tops of two of the cranes toppled to the ground and the third crane was damaged.
   She said two of the cranes, which are worth about $6 million each, were severely damaged.
   “The good news is that no one was hurt,” she said. The cranes were not working a ship when the accident occurred around 3:30 p.m.
   The port is working with other terminals in the port to find alternate berths for shipping lines that normally call Blount. With 754 acres of space and 5,280 feet of berthing space, Blount is the largest of the port’s terminals.