Storm Ida forecast to grow into hurricane, hit US Gulf Coast
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BOSTON • Tropical Storm Ida has formed in the Caribbean and is forecast to grow into a powerful hurricane in the days ahead, wreaking havoc across the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately crashing into the US coast.
Ida, the ninth storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, strengthened as its centre passed through the Cayman Islands yesterday, and is forecast to pass over western Cuba before reaching the United States' northern Gulf Coast tomorrow, said the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC).
The storm is about 80km north-northwest of Grand Cayman, packing maximum sustained winds of 75kmh, the NHC added.
"Sunday is the anniversary of (Hurricane) Katrina - it seems like a particularly cruel date for a hurricane landfall in Louisiana," said Dr Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger.
The storm's winds are forecast to peak at 177kmh, which would put it just below Category 3 major hurricane status on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said on Thursday.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, according to a Twitter post.
Hurricane watches have been issued from Cameron in Louisiana to the Mississippi/Alabama border, an area that includes New Orleans. Storm surge watches have been issued from Sabine Pass in Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border.
Five storms have already hit the US this year as climate change fuels extreme weather around the globe.
Oil giants are bracing themselves for Ida.
BP said it is evacuating workers from four platforms in the area and shutting production.
Equinor is preparing to evacuate its offshore Titan platform, and Royal Dutch Shell is moving to disconnect its offshore facility FPSO Turritella and sail it to safer waters.
ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery is beginning its hurricane preparedness process and Chevron joins others in clearing non-essential workers from the region.
A storm ripping through the offshore oil and natural gas platforms, then hitting the Gulf of Mexico coast, could disrupt production and processing.
The Gulf is home to 16 per cent of US crude production, 2 per cent of its gas output and 48 per cent of the nation's refining capacity.
Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug 29, 2005, as a major hurricane, and the storm went on to cause massive flooding in New Orleans that devastated the city and killed at least 1,800 people.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
