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Hurricane Delta headed toward New Orleans ports

The Soy Transportation Coalition is keeping a close eye on the path of Hurricane Delta on the move to reach the Louisiana coast by Friday.

Mike Steenhoek tells Brownfield the New Orleans ports are shipping a lot of soybeans right now so it’s a big concern.

“This is the time of the year, particularly for soybeans, where we have a lot of export activity. Last week, 28 million bushels of soybeans were exported along the lower Mississippi River.”

He says the ports are used to this kind of weather, “They have plans in place to restrict barge access or ocean vessel access, to be able to hunker down and take safety precautions for their facilities. But, clearly, when you have a large storm with 100-plus mile an hour winds it will impose some damage so we just hope for it to be minimal.”

Delta is the third major hurricane in the Gulf this season which Steenhoek says is unusual in such a short period of time. But of the three, he says, it’s the most likely to hit New Orleans ports. Hurricane Laura in late August veered west of New Orleans and Hurricane Sally last month veered east.