Lisa Anderson president of Claremont, CA-based LMA Consulting Group, Inc. and manufacturing expert known for creating supply chain resiliency is quoted in the Wall Street Journal following State of Emergency declared after floods.
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California Declares State of Emergency After Floods Wash Out Part of Interstate 10
Caltrans officials said they planned to reopen closed-off portion of the freeway Friday
LOS ANGELES—California leaders declared a state of emergency after flash floods and mudslides damaged roads and highways in much of the state earlier this week, leading to delays, costs and uncertainties in supply chains stretching across the country.
On Wednesday, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six California counties, including Riverside County, where flash flooding washed out an overpass on Interstate 10 on Sunday.
Mr. Newsom ordered the California Department of Transportation to “formally request immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program” to obtain funding for emergency repairs and reconstruction in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Imperial and Kern Counties. Gov. Jerry Brown is traveling out of the country.
Traffic on a 100-mile stretch of I-10, which runs from Los Angeles to Phoenix, has been rerouted this week on alternative highways to the north and south. I-10 carries more than 25,000 vehicles each day between California and Arizona, about one-third of which are commercial, and it is a primary route inland from the nation’s busiest container ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Caltrans officials said they planned to reopen the closed-off portion of the freeway Friday, rerouting eastbound traffic—the side that collapsed—to the westbound side, which will reduce both directions to one lane.
Lisa Anderson, president of the Inland Empire, Calif., chapter—in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties—of supply-chain industry association APICS, said the bridge collapse “certainly did wreak havoc in terms of traffic patterns and delays” for members of the association and their customers. Many manufacturers and distributors in the region are shipping goods and materials via the air—at significant extra cost—to ensure it arrives on time, she said.
According to the American Transportation Research Institute, a research group for the trucking industry, the bridge closure adds about $2.5 million a day to the industry’s costs.
Emergency federal funding will help, Ms. Anderson said, “but it’s going to be how quickly can they resolve the issue and get us back to being functional and safe,” she said. “That remains to be seen.”
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict that the weather system known as El Niño will pick up steam this year, which could mean even more heavy rainstorms for Southern California.
Published in Wall Street Journal on July 22, 2015