News outlets writes that river conditions continue to worsen, stalling barges trying to move up and down the Lower Mississippi River (LMR). In addition, barge drafts and tow sizes have been cut.

 

A normal draft -- the distance between the waterline and the deepest point of the boat -- for a barge when river conditions are good is 12 feet at approximately 2,100 tons. Each foot of draft that is reduced means a barge's cargo is cut by 200 tons and will cost shippers money as they are paying the same amount of freight to ship less. In addition, that will create the need for more barges to pick up the slack. In turn, those costs may be passed on to farmers who haul grain to river terminals or, worst case, river terminals in the low water areas may have to stop taking grain.

 

On Sunday evening, Oct. 13, the Mississippi River gauge at Memphis, Tennessee, read -5.39 feet below zero gauge. And it's falling fast. On Friday morning, Oct. 11, it was -2.36 feet below zero gauge. The NWS on their Facebook page said, "Behind this rise (from Helene) we are not seeing any rainfall over the next 16 days, and we anticipate that the Lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers will continue to recede back to low flow conditions."