Customer Advisory - New Orleans Hurricane Gustav

At 1000 hours CDT, Hurricane Gustav made landfall 70 miles southwest of New Orleans at Cocodrie, Louisiana. The current five-day storm path is projected by the National Weather Service to track along the south central Louisiana coast moving northwest to eastern Texas by Tuesday, September 2. Areas in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are expected to receive rainfall from six to twelve inches, in some locations, possibly as much as 20 inches. Gustav wind speeds have exceeded 110 mph, however, Gustav has been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane, and is forecast to weaken as it moves inland over Louisiana.

BNSF, UPRR, NSRR and CSX closed their New Orleans rail facilities Friday, August 29. Rail cargo bound for New Orleans will be held until the impact of Gustav is better understood. As a precaution, BNSF and UPRR have stopped New Orleans and Houston-bound trains over the weekend until the impact of Gustav is known. UPRR has re-directed New Orleans NS interchange rail traffic to Memphis and Florida-bound CSX rail traffic to St. Louis.

BNSF is holding West Coast import New Orleans and Houston rail cargo at its off-dock Hobart ramp and has requested all marine terminals also hold New Orleans and Houston-bound cargo.

Also, for your convenience, OOCL has a North America Rail Advisory feature published in our website which is updated as frequently as possible. You can find the latest information on rail and weather in the attached link.

http://www.oocl.com/NR/rdonlyres/D2DCA6BA-89C4-41EE-A3C1-D770F658E6D5/0/IntermodalMap.swf

Should you have any questions or require assistance with regards to this advisory or your shipment needs, contact OOCL Customer Service in USA or Canada at 1-888-388-6625.