North Carolina's ports were closed, Norfolk was preparing to suspend operations and railroads were holding back shipments heading toward the East Coast as shipping operations from the Southeast to New England triggered emergency operations on Friday ahead of the heavy winds and rains of Hurricane Irene, the Journal of Commerce reported.
"It looks like we're in the cross-hairs," said Joe Harris, spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.
The VPA was pulling down container stacks and trying to get cargo loads and truckers through terminals gates as fast as possible “to give haulers as much opportunity as we can to get on the move and get out of here,” Harris said.
North Carolina closed its ports of Wilmington and Morehead City on Thursday as the hurricane with its 110 mph winds moved northwest at about 14 mph. The National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 400 miles off the coast of North Carolina at dawn on Friday and was classified as a Category 2 hurricane.
It was expected to head straight up the East Coast and tracking projections showed it could come within 30 miles of New York City.
Norfolk Southern Railway was holding shipments moving into the Carolinas at inland terminals west of the area, and giving priority to shipments set to move out of the region. CSX Transportation said it is curtailing service in the coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia as necessary.
The Amtrak passenger rail system canceled all trains south of Washington, D.C., on Friday.
The Virginia port has nine ships calls this weekend and those were likely to be canceled, Harris said. The port authority also tested its genset units “to make sure they are fueled up and ready to go in case power goes out,” he said.
“Like other East Coast ports, we have a hurricane plan and we are putting that into action,” Harris said. “Right now, we are trying to stay open to the last minute to get as many loads out as we can. But at some point we are going to cancel the labor and shut this down.”
"It looks like we're in the cross-hairs," said Joe Harris, spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.
The VPA was pulling down container stacks and trying to get cargo loads and truckers through terminals gates as fast as possible “to give haulers as much opportunity as we can to get on the move and get out of here,” Harris said.
North Carolina closed its ports of Wilmington and Morehead City on Thursday as the hurricane with its 110 mph winds moved northwest at about 14 mph. The National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 400 miles off the coast of North Carolina at dawn on Friday and was classified as a Category 2 hurricane.
It was expected to head straight up the East Coast and tracking projections showed it could come within 30 miles of New York City.
Norfolk Southern Railway was holding shipments moving into the Carolinas at inland terminals west of the area, and giving priority to shipments set to move out of the region. CSX Transportation said it is curtailing service in the coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia as necessary.
The Amtrak passenger rail system canceled all trains south of Washington, D.C., on Friday.
The Virginia port has nine ships calls this weekend and those were likely to be canceled, Harris said. The port authority also tested its genset units “to make sure they are fueled up and ready to go in case power goes out,” he said.
“Like other East Coast ports, we have a hurricane plan and we are putting that into action,” Harris said. “Right now, we are trying to stay open to the last minute to get as many loads out as we can. But at some point we are going to cancel the labor and shut this down.”