Sea ports and at least one pipeline company started shutdown efforts on Tuesday in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, one of the strongest storms to hit the East Coast in decades.
Mountain Valley Pipeline began closing operations of its 303 mile natural gas pipeline that runs through Virginia. The company explained it was moving fuel tanks,pipe and other equipment from floodplain areas. It was also elevating temporary construction bridges and backfilling trenches where pipe was laid.
“A previous weather system with significant rainfall has already saturated grounds along several portions of the MVP route and precautionary measures have been implemented to address potential issues,” stated the company.
Colonial Pipeline, which has a pipeline running between Houston, Texas, and Linden, New Jersey, recently issued a statement repeating information from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on hurricane preparedness. The statement included shutdown and evacuation procedures for refiners and pipeline companies.
The port of Virginia said it would begin shutting down channels and offices on Wednesday.
The North Carolina Ports made a similar announcement.
The South Carolina Ports Authority said it was observing normal operations at its ports, but added it was monitoring weather conditions.