After what seemed to be a never-ending amount of snow and polar vortexes, the Midwest is finally starting to warm up. Unfortunately, with the warm weather comes flooding and lots of it. Flooding that is making history began around March 15th and has wiped out miles of roads and bridges along the Missouri River. The increase snowmelt and rain that is expected in the forecast this week makes it look as though the problem is going to continue.
Two major rail companies in the region have had to close several of their subdivisions due to all the flooding. BNSF Railway Company is the largest freight railroad network in the country, consisting of just under 33,000 route miles running through 28 states, many of which are flooded. With the washouts, they have begun rerouting traffic by offloading to trucks. However, with limited station access and increased rail halts, even the trucks are having issues accessing the cargo.
Recourses have begun to come in and crews are beginning to conduct assessments and inspections. There are also ballast on their way to make track repairs as soon as possible. With all the issues getting crews where they are needed and speed restrictions in areas that are continuing to see flooding, it isn’t expected that normal train flows will resume for quite some time.
BNSF created a Midwest flooding recovery page to provide information and resources regarding the flooding. Please click here for information.