US warns of ‘unsurvivable’ surge as Laura strengthens to Category 4 hurricane
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Houston — Laura strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday as it raced over evacuated oil-production platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico and took aim at the energy industry's refining hub along the coast of Texas and Louisiana.
The fast-moving storm is forecast to bring heavy rains and catastrophic, 230km/h winds that will drive ocean waters up to 48km inland, forecasters said.
A half-a-million people in the two states fled the storm, clogging highways and filled hotels in a rush to avoid the storm and shelters.
Landfall is expected late on Thursday and could push an “unsurvivable” 6m storm surge against the coast, the National Hurricane Center warned.
The storm resembles 2005's Hurricane Rita, which caused more than $18bn in damages and killed more than 120 people, many during a hurried Texas evacuation.
“The storm surge is going to be catastrophic,” said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at DTN, an energy, agriculture and weather data provider.
Laura's projected path spares Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and has allowed some of its oil refineries to keep running. But its path will bring a deadly combination of fierce winds, high rainfall and storm surge to an area severely affected by Hurricane Harvey's floods three years ago.
Lake Charles could see an at 2m-3m wall of water, Foerster said.
The ports of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, Texas, closed to vessel traffic on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said
Six oil-processing plants that convert nearly 2.33-million barrels per day of oil into fuel, and account for about 12% of US processing were shut down on Wednesday.
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Valero Energy, Total and Motiva Enterprises had halted operations at oil refineries in the area on Wednesday.
Oil producers on Wednesday had evacuated 310 offshore oil facilities and shut 84%, or 1.56-million bpd, of US Gulf of Mexico crude output, and 61% of the region's offshore natural gas production.
As the storm prepared to strike, refiners closer to Houston were expecting to ride it out.
Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, LyondellBasell's Houston facility and Exxon's Baytown refinery were continuing operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Marathon and LyondellBasell did not have immediate responses. Exxon's Baytown plant is running but was taking precautions in event conditions worsen, a spokesperson said.
Reuters
The fast-moving storm is forecast to bring heavy rains and catastrophic, 230km/h winds that will drive ocean waters up to 48km inland, forecasters said.
A half-a-million people in the two states fled the storm, clogging highways and filled hotels in a rush to avoid the storm and shelters.
Landfall is expected late on Thursday and could push an “unsurvivable” 6m storm surge against the coast, the National Hurricane Center warned.
The storm resembles 2005's Hurricane Rita, which caused more than $18bn in damages and killed more than 120 people, many during a hurried Texas evacuation.
“The storm surge is going to be catastrophic,” said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at DTN, an energy, agriculture and weather data provider.
Laura's projected path spares Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and has allowed some of its oil refineries to keep running. But its path will bring a deadly combination of fierce winds, high rainfall and storm surge to an area severely affected by Hurricane Harvey's floods three years ago.
Lake Charles could see an at 2m-3m wall of water, Foerster said.
The ports of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, Texas, closed to vessel traffic on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said
Six oil-processing plants that convert nearly 2.33-million barrels per day of oil into fuel, and account for about 12% of US processing were shut down on Wednesday.
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Valero Energy, Total and Motiva Enterprises had halted operations at oil refineries in the area on Wednesday.
Oil producers on Wednesday had evacuated 310 offshore oil facilities and shut 84%, or 1.56-million bpd, of US Gulf of Mexico crude output, and 61% of the region's offshore natural gas production.
As the storm prepared to strike, refiners closer to Houston were expecting to ride it out.
Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, LyondellBasell's Houston facility and Exxon's Baytown refinery were continuing operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Marathon and LyondellBasell did not have immediate responses. Exxon's Baytown plant is running but was taking precautions in event conditions worsen, a spokesperson said.
Reuters
