I've have been wondering that for awhile now,
Someone obviously doesn't know jack about currents. Hadn't even thought about this aspect, but it will adversely affect the Gulf ecosystem.I'm thinking the gulf is too damn big to get contaminated.
Like spilling a cap of bleach in a floor tub.
The New York Times
August 29, 2005
Oil Tops $70 As Katrina Nears Louisiana
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:17 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude oil futures ed to more than $70 a barrel for the first time as Hurricane Katrina took dead aim on America's oil and refinery operations Monday, shutting down an estimated 1 million barrels of refining capacity and sharply curbing offshore production in the region.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed as much as $4.67 a barrel in electronic after-hours trading in Singapore to hit a high of $70.80 a barrel. Gasoline traded at $2.14 a gallon, up 21 cents, while heating oil rose more than 17 cents to $2.01 a gallon.
The area targeted by Katrina is crucial to the United States' energy infrastructure -- offshore oil and gas production, import terminals, pipeline networks and numerous refining operations throughout southern Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Category 5 storm was still churning in the Gulf of Mexico but was on a path to hit New Orleans early Monday.
Last September, Hurricane Ivan also swept across the region causing heavy damage and reducing the region's output for months.
Katrina's winds were fiercer.
( huh? were? is Katrina already past tense? )
Oil companies evacuated workers and shut down more than 600,000 barrels of daily production in the Gulf. Refiners closed down more than 1 million barrels of refining output by Sunday, but that amount could be higher because not every producer reports data, said Peter Beutel, an oil analyst with Cameron Hanover.
''This is the big one,'' he said. ''This is unmitigated, bad news for consumers.''
Along with oil and gas futures ing Monday, natural gas was up. The ''out of control'' buying is spurred by the prospect that the region's numerous refineries could be idled for weeks by flooding, power outages, or both, Beutel said.
The U.S. has ample crude oil supplies, even if major hurricane destruction trims Gulf oil output and foreign imports, but refining capacity is extraordinarily tight. As a result, prices for gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel and other products have flirted with records and could go even higher this week.
''If this thing knocks out significant quan ies of refining capacity ... we're going to be in deep, dark trouble,'' said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York.
The market has been on edge for months, with traders and speculators buying on the slightest fear. With Katrina, all those fears could be realized, Beutel said.
''Basically I could spill a can of oil at my local gas station and you'd see the price of crude go up by $1 per barrel,'' he said.
Crude settled at $66.13 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $1.36 after hitting $68 last week.
On Friday, Katrina had been expected to be inconsequential to the energy industry, with many traders selling. That all changed Saturday, when the system gained power and charged west, directly toward areas of offshore oil production.
ChevronTexaco Corp. completed evacuations of all workers in the eastern and central Gulf of Mexico and nonessential workers in the western Gulf late Saturday, company spokesman Matt Carmichael said.
Chevron has about 2,100 employees and contractors working in the Gulf, Carmichael said. Chevron will continue to produce 90 percent of its normal production by remote as long as weather cooperates, he said.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which processes loads from tankers too large for mainland ports, evacuated all workers and stopped unloading ships on Saturday morning said Mark Bugg, the terminal's manager of scheduling. The LOOP, 20 miles offshore, is the nation's largest oil import terminal and handles 11 percent of U.S. oil imports.
Royal Dutch-S Group evacuated more than 1,000 offshore workers by Saturday. Only those in the far west remained, the company said on its Web site. BP PLC and ExxonMobil Corp. also brought workers ashore Saturday.
S estimated 420,000 barrels of oil and 1.35 million cubic feet of gas per day will be shut in at its central and eastern Gulf facilities. Exxon Mobil said it has ceased daily production of 3,000 barrels of oil and 50 million cubic feet of gas.
Valero Energy Corp. evacuated all but a few workers at its 260,000-barrel-a-day St. Charles refinery on Saturday. Murphy Oil Corp. also shut down its 120,000-barrel-a-day Meraux, La., refinery, and Exxon Mobil Corp. planned to shut down its 183,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Chalmette, La.
Motiva Enterprises, a joint venture of Royal Dutch S PLC and state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., began implementing hurricane contingency plans at its 225,000-barrel-a-day Norco refinery on Saturday. Motiva also was exploring contingencies for its 235,000-barrel-a-day Convent refinery, about 45 miles west of New Orleans, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
Times-Picayune Monday early edition.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/829_page1.pdf
Hes probally writing this to go in tomorrows Paper
Damn, coastal roads along Missisippi and Alabama (Gulf Shores) are under 5 ft. of water already.
Just a question... where are you all getting your info??? weather chan, Cnn, on the internet, any place possible???
Measuring station in Southwestern Pass, LA..... 80 MPH sustained winds, gusts to 90.
I just talked to the guy who was staying on yahoo messenger. He just signed off. He said he would stay on until power went out.
kris: hey man I am reading your story and I just want you to know that I really really hope you are ok and i'll be praying for you, i feel like i am witnessing history through your words
microserf23 : hehehe
microserf23 : thanks
kris: i'm a law student from san antonio
kris: have you been getting lots of ims?
microserf23 : tons
That was he.
I've got a Houston news station on for the most part (they have crews in Baton Rouge, NO, and Shreveport), but flipping back and between with Fox and CNN.
My wind/wave data is coming from offshore weather buoys..
Here's some more for you...
Buoy 20 nautical miles (nm) Southeast of Biloxi, MS... 20 foot waves, sustained winds of 45 mph, gusts of 55.
(!) Measurements from the S platform 200 nm south of NO were knocked out at 6:30 PM CDT with a last reported measurement set of 30 ft. waves, sustained winds of 100 mph, gusts to 120.
And why the do we have to use knots in wind measurements for our buoys? I keep having to bust out the calculator
don't hold your breath.
but that's okay... we can take care of our own.
Price gouging has started. WWL.
Here's another link showing tidal observations (data will continually update until data stations get knocked out)...
Grand Isle, LA is already up 3 ft. over predicted.
http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/index.html
Readings from buoy 100 miles south of the southernmost edge of La.
It's supposed to hit land btw 6-8 right?
Working web cams...
http://www.portno.com/webcamnew_out.htm
http://www.nola.com/beadcam/
http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/classic/
http://www.nola.com/beadcam/
http://www.nola.com/rivercam/
http://www.nola.com/bridgecam/
http://www.nola.com/fqcam/
http://www.wdsu.com/weather/livecams/index.html
http://www.tropicalisle.com/webcam.html
http://www.wdsu.com/wxcam/1475332/detail.html
Data from Metairie, La (just west of NO).
http://members.cox.net/spider4/
Damn (from Houston news... (KHOU is now broadcasting the WWL feed))...
Storm will still be a tropical storm in the Tennessee river valley, tropical depression in Ohio.
Some emergency management dude: "when we get through with this storm we will have a new permanent shortline in Louisiana."
The second webcam you posted has the clearest image and live video feed (looks like power didn't go down where the cam is located). It seems it's starting to pour (it was a drizzle or light rain a couple of hours ago).
Hope that people will be safe and the damage minimum, but sadly it looks the other way. Good luck to anyone with relatives and/or friends in the area.
EDIT: I just saw a guy walking in the streets like "Oh, what a lovely night for a walk". Some people are just....
What are the latest estimates when it will hit? 6am, San Antonio time?
Well - its basically already hitting. When will the eye hit? Probably 6-8cst.
2pac is dead.
Yes, that's what I was asking.When will the eye hit? Probably 6-8cst.
The eye won't get to NO untill later than that. Probably around noon. That is when it will be over the delta of the river.
They just said within six hours. So I'm not sure what's the case.
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