Norfolk Southern Corp, the No. 4 U.S. railroad, said it is holding traffic in route to the areas likely to be affected by Irma at various yards throughout its rail network in an effort to alleviate congestion, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. The ralroad is also placing resources like ballast trains, equipment, and generators, so it can jump into storm recovery efforts when safety allows, the spokeswoman said. 

 

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson)

White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told a White House briefing on Friday that the Jones Act requiring that only U.S.-flagged vessels can carry fuel between two points in the United States had been waived, so foreign-flagged vessels can also help in bringing fuel to Florida. 

 

But the fuel supply operations will have to stop at some point, depending on the conditions, he said. "At some point, people are going to be on their own ... And they need to be prepared, if they are in that path and haven't taken some action to get themselves in a less dangerous position, to be ready for at least a 72-hour period ... for them to have enough food, water and shelter before the government can get back in," Bossert said.