Tropical Storm Hilary Impacting Operations in California
Announcement Number: CN2023-41
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: August 21, 2023
To Our Customers,
Tropical Storm Hilary has made landfall, bringing with it heavy rains and flooding in Southern California and Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
The Mojave and Yuma subdivisions are out of service due to water and mud over the tracks in the following California locations:
- Between Banning and Indio
- Near Mojave
- 10 miles north of Fontana
Widespread road and interstate closures are impacting our ability to transport crews to operate trains, and public electrical outages are impacting operations in some terminals. Once the storm passes and we are able to assess the status of our network in this area we will provide an update on estimated shipment delays.
Our Engineering and Operating teams are addressing service interruptions as quickly and safely as possible. We have additional resources positioned to aid in the recovery as needed.
Flooding could continue for several days. As conditions allow for a safe response, we continue to take proactive measures to respond to potential outages, including strategically staging rail ballast and panels, personnel, and electric generators in areas along the storm path.
To ensure you are properly prepared, please visit our Hurricane Planning and Recovery page, which outlines best practices to follow during the hurricane season.
Also, we have inspected the tracks in the vicinity of the earthquake, in Ojai, California, 13 miles north of Ventura, and discovered no impacts to rail operations as a result of this incident.
As Tropical Storm Hilary travels northward, we will continue to provide updates on the status of our network. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care & Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.
