MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One of the deadliest hurricanes in decades could cost the US economy billions of dollars in goods because of supply chain shortages. And with another hurricane in the conversation, supplies will likely be heavily impacted.
"It could impact some goods originally scheduled to go through the Port of Jacksonville or into the Port of Jacksonville, onward to Memphis," said Neely Mallory with Mallory Alexander International Logistics.
He added that Hurricane Helene has already disrupted supply chains, blocking many routes and causing store shortages. If Hurricane Milton's impact is similar to Helene's, it will delay shipments of goods like fruits and vegetables from South America, cotton and even medical-grade supplies.
"Soybeans could be impacted," said Mallory. "Peanuts, the things that they grow in those areas that these commodity traders in Memphis, you know, we have a lot of big commodity trading companies in Memphis, not just cotton, and so they could be impacted."
After the dockworkers strike began last week, several stores locally and nationally saw outages of things like toilet paper. The Institute for Supply Management has predicted that Hurricane Helene's damages could amount to as much as $250 billion. That number is likely to increase in the coming days.
"Although their manufacturing may not have been disrupted in Memphis, or the harvesting of the crops which is going on now may not have been disrupted in the tri-state area of Memphis, those people trade commodities and have paper factories all in the Carolinas and huge cotton crops in North and South Carolina and Georgia," Mallory said.
As one of the largest ports in the country, Memphis' port is expected to suffer from the shortages in some way, though the extent right now is unknown.
Memphis port representatives issued ABC24 a statement, saying that although they are not feeling that impact right now, they are diligently working with their partners to minimize disruptions to industries that rely on river transport.