Steer Company (steer.us.com) and Eagle Shipping Alert - Hurricane Sandy

by Hurricane Sandy on 2012-10-29 22:16:22

The Steer Company (steer.us.com) and Eagle Shipping Ltd have closed offices in Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Central NJ due to the inclement weather and out of concern for staff safety.

Ocean terminals in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia have been closed all day and will most likely be closed tomorrow as well.  In addition, any vessel transiting the US East Coast will be delayed because of the necessity to navigate around the storm and the 30-40 foot waves in and around the center of the storm.

The NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, the two major north-south routes in New Jersey will be closed south of central NJ from 4:00 PM today, most of the tunnels and bridges in and out of NY City have been closed, as well as all major roads in Connecticut.  All of the local airports are on full ground stop, with managers expecting the delays to extend through the end of the week.  Essentially the entire transportation infrastructure in the Northeast US have been shut down completely and will likely remain that way until tomorrow.

The storm has advanced a little faster than expected with the storm center reaching land north of Atlantic City, NJ around 6:30-7:00 PM (EST) today although the size of the storm will make the effects felt through Tuesday morning into the mid-day period.  The main long term effects are power outages due to downed trees and flooding.  Officials are expecting winds to peak at 90 MPH and high tides at the NJ/NY ports tonight to bring record breaking water levels.  It is fully conceivable that terminals and infrastructure could flood for the first time ever and  may be damaged which could result in week of month long delays.

I will continue to provide updates "from the ground" as the storm progresses.

Best of luck to everyone
George Cirrilla