Brian Martin, Policy Director for Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor, has been calling our attention to Ike’s impact on gulf oil rigs in comments today – and that told me it was time for a closer look.
The best-case scenario for Ike is that its damage is limited, allowing refineries in its
path to open in short order after it passes. One encouraging sign: oil rigs in the Gulf, many of which have been strengthened after hurricane Rita in 2005, are not expected to be affected as drastically as they were in 2005.
Unfortunately, a worst-case scenario is more likely, says Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist at the Weather Underground, an online weather service with offices in Ann Arbor, Mich., and San Francisco. Though winds aren’t as strong as the devastating hurricane Carla in 1961, Ike’s storm surge is expected to exceed Carla’s, setting Texas records and rising perhaps 15 to 20 feet high. Texas officials have gone so far as to warn residents that staying in low-lying areas means “certain death.”
Ike’s potential for damage equals that of Katrina in 2005, says Mr. Masters, because its total kinetic pressure – the sum of wind speed plus size of the storm – is equal, or even greater, than that of Katrina. Continue reading “96.9% of crude oil, 93.3% of natural gas production shuttered in Gulf”
