Hurricane Harbor: Baltimore Bridge Collapse Disaster. What Can We Learn With Regard to Hurricane Season IF a Hurricane Hits a Major Port City?

What can we learn from the Bridge Collapse in Baltimore and what are the commonalities to Hurricane Disasters? There are many things to learn and one is an awareness of what happens when a Major Port, the 9th largest in the US (according to shipping/money/value not size) suddenly is dead in the water unable to ship out the cargo now in port - unable to leave the port and more so unable to receive cargo. In addition, Baltimore specialized in roll on/roll off cargo and the loss of that port for however long it will take to open it again impacts the people who work at the port daily, the cargo that comes and goes as well as the commerce footprint ..........is all dead in the water at the Port of Baltimore. There is also the issue of Cruise Ships as the Port hosts 3 Cruise Ship Lines.

If a Major Hurricane were to hit Tampa, Jacksonville or Ft Lauderdale it would greatly impact the economy and the flow of goods in and out of port. Those are large ports on the very vulnerable Florida peninsular.

When a disaster happens, such as this bridge that took FIVE YEARS to build and is now gone there is much to think about and learn. Remember this isn't just about shipping as it is a part of I-95 being horribly impacted leaving travelers, truckers and locals with less options. There are issues rarely mentioned such as HAZMAT that can be moved on I-95 or a similar highway but isn ot allowed to be moved through the tunnels nor certain roads. The extra costs involved in moving these dangerous materials impacts the economy as a whole. Add in the use of I-95 to move troops, military equipment is endless and anyone who has traveled in frequently knows what it's like to see a convoy of military vehicles moving along from place to place.

The loss of life was horrible yet luckily it was in the middle of the night and the Mayday call gave them 3 minutes to try and clear the bridge of traffic, but not enough time to get all of the construction workers off and 6 of those workers are now missing and presumed dead. The recovery for their bodies will be a tedious difficult job due to debris, currents and weather.

Just saying a disaster is a disaster. A hurricane landfall in a big city or population hub has economic issues that are not seen as often as when a small, but Major hurricane comes ashore near an unpopulated area or small National Park.

It's a lot to think on if you take it apart into the many parts of how the bridge collapse in Baltimore impacts all of us not just the people who need to commute to work.

As for the Weather today and tomorrow.

If this was May I'd be screaming on ....

...development at the tail end of a front!

And look at that Low like feature out East of the Bahamas!

Snow up where it belongs in late March!

The storms are moving on across the East Coast while another West Coast storm is poised to take aim at Western States that will be happy to see this pattern end! Rain today and strong winds later in the week.