Hurricane Irma is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph (22 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue for the next day or so with a decrease in forward speed. A turn toward the northwest is expected by late Saturday. On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should move near the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas today and Saturday and be near the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula Sunday morning.
Maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.
You can view all of the latest details regarding Hurricane Irma on the National Hurricane Center website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#Irma
Port Operations:
- Freeport: Closed.
- Miami: Closed.
- Port Everglades: Closed.
- Jacksonville: Open but will close today.
- Savannah: Open and receiving ships that will call before the storm. Gates will close at normal hours today. All vessel operations will cease by midnight tonight. Reopening is not yet confirmed.
- Charleston: Open. Normal gate hours are planned through and including Saturday, September 9th, and vessel operations continue with no closure planned at this time.
- Wilmington: Open with normal hours. No closure planned at this time.
Rail Service:
CSX: CSX is taking precautionary measures to protect employees, rail traffic and infrastructure from potential risks of Hurricane Irma landfall. At this time, it is not known the level of impact the hurricane will have on CSX operation, but its path and intensity are being closely monitored.
- Effective Friday, September 8th at 1700, Charleston and Savannah will close until further notice.
- Effective Friday, September 8th, CSX terminals will accept dry containers in-gate for Charleston, Savannah and Florida destinations, but the containers will be held at origin until train service resumes for those destinations.
- Please note the following exceptions to this policy:
- Hazmat and Live Reefers will not be accepted in-gate at origin. All hazmat or live reefer shipments will be rejected at the gate for return to customer’s facility or CY.
- Due to limited space availability, the Louisville terminal will not be able to hold traffic at origin and effective immediately all containers destined for Charleston, Savannah, or Florida will be rejected at the gate until further notice.
Terminal Hours:
- The following terminals are no longer accepting in-gate traffic:
- Cocoa Beach
- Jacksonville
- Port Miami
- Miami
- Miami will be closed for all out-gating of shipments at 1200 on Friday, September 8th.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Gateway representative with any questions or concerns regarding freight impacts of Hurricane Irma.