Over the past few days, tornados have ravaged parts of the US Southeast, with Thursday, April 28 the deadliest day for casualties due to tornados since 1974. Across six states, over 260 people have died, and up to a million are without power. The tornados are already affecting metallurgical coal production for two major US producers-Tampa, Florida-based Walter Energy and Cleveland, Ohio-based Cliffs Natural Resources.
"We experienced several large tornadoes near our Alabama operations over the past 24 hours," said Walter Scheller, President of US Operations for Walter Energy. "While both the No. 4 and No. 7 mines avoided direct impact by the tornadoes, they experienced power outages which have temporarily impacted production. We expect production to resume as soon as all power is restored and any related underground issues are resolved."
Cliffs Natural Resources reported Thursday that on Wednesday evening, coal mining operations at its Oak Grove Mine in Alabama were struck by severe weather, including a tornado storm. Cliffs indicated that it does appear that the severe weather did significant damage to the mine's preparation plant and overland conveyor system and this, along with overall infrastructure damage in Alabama, will impact future customer deliveries. Cliffs cautioned that it is extremely early in the damage assessment process being conducted by its operations team, and therefore, difficult to accurately forecast potential business impact.