Monitoring Tropical Storm Ida

Announcement Number: CN2021-53
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: August 27, 2021

To Our Customers,

We are currently monitoring Tropical Storm Ida as it begins to enter the Gulf of Mexico. Ida is expected to become a hurricane before making landfall along the Gulf Coast on Sunday.

We are making preparations along our network to ensure any potential outages are addressed and repaired as quickly as possible. Measures taken in advance of the storm include staging generators, rail ballast and panels, additional diesel fuel, supplemental transportation for crews as well as contractor resources. To ensure you are properly prepared, please visit our Hurricane Planning and Recovery web page, which outlines best practices to follow during the hurricane season.

  • The City of New Orleans is closely monitoring the status of the flood gates — we anticipate the gates will close early Saturday. The gate closures will effectively prevent interchange with eastern rail carriers. Rail interchange with the eastern carriers is subject to change throughout the storm and we will provide additional information as it becomes available.
  • Union Pacific's Avondale, Louisiana, intermodal terminal will temporarily suspend operations today at 16:00 CT. The Avondale terminal reopening will be dictated by the extent of the storm and associated flood impact.

As conditions develop, we will continue to provide updates on this weather system and status of our network. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care & Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.