More rain over the holiday weekend means faster flowing rivers, which is a problem at the Port of Catoosa.
"Basically, the flows are so strong that all tow boats are tied off for the present time. No tows are moving," said Director Bob Portiss. "And they won't until these river flows subside. It's just simply not a safe situation."
Tow boats help bring barges into and out of the port. Around 30 loaded barges are stuck waiting to enter or leave the port.
The currents are affecting all ports along the McKlellan-Kerr navigation system. The Army Corps of Engineers closed a downstream lock and dam on Saturday.
"It's an unfortunate situation, but it happens," Portiss said. "Just like when you look up north, sometimes they have blizzard conditions that prevent the movement of truck traffic. It's basically the same thing here, but here we're dealing with water flows."
It’s too early to estimate an economic impact of the slowdown at the port because there are other ways to move goods from there.
"That's one of the beautiful things about ports, is they're multimodal," Portiss said. "You have rail, you have truck and you have barge. And, of course, on high-valued components, you have air nearby as well."
In the last month, the Tulsa area has received 13 inches of rain — 30 percent of its rainfall for the last year. Portiss guesses things will be back to normal in seven to 10 days if no more rain falls.
