Tuesday's rainfall is creating relief for critically low river levels along the Mississippi. Barge traffic along the Mississippi River, from the QCA all the way down to Louisiana, has been struggling with low river levels for months.
"These recent rainfalls have helped," said Tom Streight, Alter Barge Logistics, Inc. "Any precipitation we get helps the river." Still, even with the rain, the river transport industry still finds itself in a stressful situation.
"Right now the carriers are operating still, with restricted tows, which means they're not moving as many barges as they normally have," Streight said.
"If we don't continue to get rainfall, in the next three or four weeks, there will be a potential shut down again."
The benefit of rainfall, for river levels, is very short-lived. Once the rain stops, river levels will drop. And that means barge operators will have to lighten their loads, again.
This problem isn't expected to go away any time soon. Forecasters predict low river levels will be an ongoing problem throughout this year.
