SEMO Port 'lucky' flooding quickly receded

During recent Mississippi River flooding, water covered parts of the railroad, and some barge work was interrupted at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority.

But the recovery time at the port was quick.

“We’ve had a lot of practice,” said Dan Overbey, executive director of SEMO Port.

The flood affected several areas of the port. Northbound railroads were halted until floods subsided and maintenance crews cleared debris. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which runs south toward the diversion channel, was underwater, affecting rail travel through the entire line.

But since the waters have receded, “we’re back fully in business from the railroad side,” Overbey said.

Barge transport at the authority also was affected. The port has five companies that manage barge shipments, and some were unable to ship for at least a week, Overbey said.

Once the waters receded, barges proceeded to travel through to unload grain, fertilizer and steel coils.

“Once they got shipping again, I think we had trucks lined up at two or three of the facilities for a few days, kind of getting caught up with everything,” Overbey said.

Though the lines of transport had paused, the businesses themselves continued to run at SEMO Port.

“The companies were open, and the people were working. The grain elevators, if they still had room, they would take corn to fill their bins to load out later,” Overbey said.

And some businesses were unaffected. Matt Zimmerman, general manager of Midwest Grain and Barge, said his work continued as usual.

“Our facilities are high enough up that we didn’t have to worry. If it would have gotten a hair higher and crested at 50 feet, then we might have had a problem,” he said.

The Mississippi River reached record levels earlier this month, cresting in Cape Girardeau at 48.86 feet. But the situation at SEMO Port was not as dire as in previous floods because of how quickly it came and went.

“The 1993 flood — that one lasted several months. It just stayed in there so long,” Overbey said.

Overbey said he and those he works with consider themselves fortunate the flood impeded their work as little as it did.

“The good news is that it was short flood that did little damage,” Overbey said. “But we’ve learned some lessons, and we’re looking at where we may need to pour more concrete, or add some other protection. We’re lucky, but we have to make preparations to keep that luck.”

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