NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for low-lying areas south of New Orleans on Friday as a weakened Tropical Storm Karen closed in on the Louisiana coast after disrupting U.S. energy output in the Gulf of Mexico.
Karen's top winds were holding at 50 mph, down from 65 mph a day earlier, and National Hurricane Center forecasters in Miami said the storm was expected to strengthen somewhat but remain a tropical storm.
Oil output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico had been cut in half as oil and gas firms shut platforms and evacuated some workers in preparation for the storm. The Gulf accounts for about 19 percent of U.S. oil production and 6 percent of natural gas output.
The mayor of Grand Isle, Louisiana, clamped a mandatory evacuation on the popular vacation and fishing destination on a barrier island south of New Orleans. Evacuations were also ordered in Lafourche Parish in the south, and residents in much of Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans, were told to be out of their homes before nightfall.
The Sand Dollar Motel and Marina on Grand Isle was a frenzy of activity on Friday as boaters scrambled to get their vessels to higher ground and marina employees secured the premises.
"It's already pouring here and the wind is real strong," said marina owner Susan Gaspard, who added that squalls had been hitting all morning.
Showing posts with label karen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karen. Show all posts
Friday, October 4, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
OMG - it never ends, just one thing right after another
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Karen formed in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and was forecast to sweep through U.S. oil installations before hitting the Gulf Coast between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, the National Hurricane Center said.
Energy companies in the Gulf started shutting in production on Thursday and were evacuating some workers from offshore platforms as Karen approached a region that produces nearly a fifth of daily U.S. oil output.
Three days after much of the U.S. government was closed down over a budget standoff, the Federal Emergency Management Agency began recalling furloughed workers to help prepare for the storm.
The storm, the first to threaten the U.S. coast during the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, had top winds of 65 mph and was centered about 430 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
It was moving north-northwest and was expected to slow down and turn north. Coastal residents could start feeling its bluster by Friday night and the center was expected to cross the coastline east of the Mississippi-Alabama border early on Sunday.
A hurricane watch was issued for the coast from Grand Isle, Louisiana, eastward to Indian Pass, Florida, alerting residents to expect hurricane conditions within 48 hours.
Karen would become a hurricane if its sustained winds reach 74 mph. That was expected to happen late Friday.
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