Alex Expected to Dissipate in Next 24 to 36 Hours, U.S. Says
Hurricane Alex has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Source: NOAA via Getty Images
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, talks about the U.S. government's response to the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Issa speaks with Carol Massar and Matt Miller on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Tropical Storm Alex is losing power after coming ashore in Mexico, at the end of a path that began in the Caribbean, drenched Central America and forced the shutdown of a quarter of the U.S.’s Gulf oil production.
Before landfall overnight, Alex reached Category 2 storm status with winds of 100 mph (161 kph), the earliest Atlantic hurricane since 1995 and the first of the 2010 season.
About 21 percent of crude-oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and 14 percent of natural-gas output remained idled today, the U.S. government said.
Alex’s biggest threat now is potentially heavy rain across southern Texas and northeastern Mexico that may linger for several days. As much as 10 inches may fall in isolated areas of Texas, while mountainous regions of Mexico may receive as much as 20 inches, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
“This system has a large area of moisture associated with it, and the remnants of Alex are expected to keep a heavy rainfall threat in northern Mexico and portions of the far-south U.S. for the next few days,” the center said.
Alex is packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is about 94 miles east of Zacatecas, Mexico, the hurricane center said on its website at 4:30 p.m. Houston time. The storm is heading west at 13 mph and is expected to collapse tonight or tomorrow.
The storm has been blamed for the deaths of at least 16 people. Thirteen were reported killed in Central America earlier this week as the storm moved from the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico. Three people were killed in Mexico overnight, according to the Associated Press.
Stormy Weather
Tornado watches and warnings cover a large part of southern Texas today. A warning means a tornado has been spotted either by observers or on radar, and a watch means conditions are ideal for storm development.
Mexican officials dropped tropical storm warnings for the coast south of La Cruz to Cabo Rojo and from Rio San Fernando to the Rio Grande.
Eight rigs and 74 production platforms in the Gulf were evacuated because of Alex, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said earlier. About 930 workers were removed from offshore Gulf platforms yesterday.
About 421,000 barrels a day of oil output were halted, 26 percent of Gulf production, along with 919 million cubic feet of natural-gas output, or 14 percent.
Gulf Production
The Gulf Coast is home to 43 percent of operable U.S. refining capacity, according to the Energy Department. Gulf Coast refiners in August and September 2008 lost about 20 percent of production capacity due to hurricanes Ike and Gustav.
The Gulf of Mexico makes up about 31 percent of U.S. oil output, 10 percent of its gas production and seven of the 10 busiest ports.
The storm missed a direct hit on a wrecked BP Plc well that unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history. However, swells of up to 10 feet triggered a second day of suspended skimming and booming operations, said Brian Ferguson of the Joint Information Center.
The rough seas prevented work by a relief ship designed to suck up 25,000 barrels a day of oil, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft said yesterday. The ship won’t be able to start working until at least July 7.
Alex also tore oil-containment booms and sent streamers of crude into parts of Louisiana’s coast that had been spared earlier, Zukunft said.
LOOP Reopening
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which serves tankers in deep water off eastern Louisiana, halted offloading on June 29 because of rough seas, according to a spokeswoman, Barb Hestermann. There were no supply disruptions and the port was to reopen tonight, she said.
Ports along the Texas coast expected to reopen and ship pilots started to board vessels today.
Alex was the earliest Atlantic hurricane since Allison formed on June 3, 1995. Last year, Bill became the season’s first hurricane on Aug. 15. The Atlantic storm season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
As Alex fades away, forecasters are starting to look at signs another storm may develop in the Caribbean, Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, said today.
Rouiller said he believes conditions in the Caribbean are ripe for a storm next week. Earlier this week, Joe Bastardi of AccuWeather Inc. said he also thought it was possible another storm could form by early July.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Scott in London at mscott50@bloomberg.net; Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
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