Hurricane Florence forces Boeing Dreamliner factory to shut down

A Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner at the Boeing South Carolina facility.AP

• Hurricane Florence is bearing down on the East Coast of the United States. It’s expected to make landfall on Thursday along the coast of North and South Carolina. 
• Boeing is shutting down its North Charleston, South Carolina facility to give its employees a chance to evacuate.
• Boeing South Carolina assembles the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. 

Hurricane Florence is bearing down on the East Coast of the United States. It’s expected to make landfall on Thursday along the coast of North and South Carolina. 

In the path of the storm is Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, South Carolina where the company assembles all three versions of the 787 Dreamliner. 

According to Boeing, that plant will be shut down on Tuesday to give its more than 6,000 employees a chance safely evacuate ahead of the storm.

In a statement to Business Insider, the company declined to say when the plant will reopen and instead told us “operations will resume when it is safe to do so.”

Boeing’s South Carolina complex is located next to Charleston International Airport and includes a 1.2 million square foot Dreamliner final assembly building. 

The storm boasts sustained winds of nearly 130 mph with gusts even higher, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday morning. It’s currently considered a Category 4 hurricane, but the NWS expects the storm to strengthen over the next day or so. 

Here is Boeing’s statement in its entirety:

“The safety of our Boeing teammates and their families is our top priority, and our leaders across the enterprise are closely monitoring the storm and working in conjunction with state and local governmental authorities to stay ahead of emergency situations. Due to impacts from Hurricane Florence, an evacuation order has been issued for coastal South Carolina, including Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties, beginning at noon Tuesday, Sept. 11. In line with that order, Boeing will suspend operations at Boeing South Carolina today so our employees can properly evacuate. We will resume operations once it is safe to do so.”

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