Life-threatening Hurricane Laura set to hit the US this week
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New York — Hurricane Laura is poised to become a life-threatening category 4 storm before coming ashore along the Texas-Louisiana coast this week, potentially inflicting as much as $18bn in damage on the region and keeping some of America’s largest oil refineries shut for months.
Laura’s winds were forecast to peak at 209km/h over the Gulf of Mexico, but may weaken slightly before hitting the coast on Thursday, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC). The storm has already disrupted offshore oil and natural gas production, shut a third of the Gulf Coast’s refining capacity, halted exports and prompted mandatory evacuations. It’s set to be the first major system to hit the Gulf Coast since Michael in 2018.
“Laura has become a formidable hurricane,” the NHC said on its website. A “life-threatening storm surge with large and dangerous waves is expected to produce potentially catastrophic damage from San Luis Pass, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.”
Even when it was forecast to become no more powerful than category 3, Laura was predicted to cause anywhere between $6bn and $18bn in losses, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeller with Enki Research. About 10% to 12% of US refining capacity could be shut for more than six months, he said.
“It is going to be a hard hitter, and it is going to cause some devastating impacts,” said Jim Rouiller, lead meteorologist with the Energy Weather Group. “Louisiana is going to have a lot of damage with this storm.”
After Laura rips across the Gulf Coast, it will leave a path of destruction through the Mississippi Valley before turning on the mid-Atlantic region that just recovered from Hurricane Isaias, Rouiller said. There is a possibility that Laura will re-intensify when it makes it to Maryland, New Jersey and possibly New York, he said.
The threat has prompted more than 84% of oil output and nearly 61% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut, according to the interior department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Gulf Coast refineries and petrochemical plants are often located in low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding. In 2017, an Arkema chemical plant about 40km east of Houston had a fire and explosion after it was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. Last September, ExxonMobil shut its Beaumont refinery in Texas because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda.
Laura could push sea levels ...
Laura’s winds were forecast to peak at 209km/h over the Gulf of Mexico, but may weaken slightly before hitting the coast on Thursday, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC). The storm has already disrupted offshore oil and natural gas production, shut a third of the Gulf Coast’s refining capacity, halted exports and prompted mandatory evacuations. It’s set to be the first major system to hit the Gulf Coast since Michael in 2018.
“Laura has become a formidable hurricane,” the NHC said on its website. A “life-threatening storm surge with large and dangerous waves is expected to produce potentially catastrophic damage from San Luis Pass, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.”
Even when it was forecast to become no more powerful than category 3, Laura was predicted to cause anywhere between $6bn and $18bn in losses, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeller with Enki Research. About 10% to 12% of US refining capacity could be shut for more than six months, he said.
“It is going to be a hard hitter, and it is going to cause some devastating impacts,” said Jim Rouiller, lead meteorologist with the Energy Weather Group. “Louisiana is going to have a lot of damage with this storm.”
After Laura rips across the Gulf Coast, it will leave a path of destruction through the Mississippi Valley before turning on the mid-Atlantic region that just recovered from Hurricane Isaias, Rouiller said. There is a possibility that Laura will re-intensify when it makes it to Maryland, New Jersey and possibly New York, he said.
The threat has prompted more than 84% of oil output and nearly 61% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut, according to the interior department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Gulf Coast refineries and petrochemical plants are often located in low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding. In 2017, an Arkema chemical plant about 40km east of Houston had a fire and explosion after it was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. Last September, ExxonMobil shut its Beaumont refinery in Texas because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda.
Laura could push sea levels ...
