Hurricane Isaias approaches US Gulf Coast as Category 2 storm

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 15:37 · Archive

Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall on the US Gulf Coast on Friday night or Saturday as a Category 2 storm, disrupting oil and gas production.

Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall over the US Gulf Coast on Friday night or early Saturday, with the National Hurricane Center forecasting it will cross either Florida, Alabama or Mississippi. The storm has intensified significantly; DW News reports it has strengthened to Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, while CNBC states it is Category 3 with 120 mph winds. The hurricane's approach has already disrupted oil and gas operations, with companies shutting in roughly 63% of total US production in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 1.3 million barrels per day, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The storm poses additional threats to the refining sector. Chevron's refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi and Vertex Energy's refinery in Saraland, Alabama are under hurricane warnings and could be affected. These two facilities combined can produce 466,000 barrels per day, representing 2.4% of US refining capacity. Chevron said its Pascagoula refinery remained operational as of Thursday. If the refineries do shut down, restarting them would take one to two weeks if they sustained no damage.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for coastal areas in four counties in northeastern Florida, while states of emergency are in place in parts of Alabama and Georgia. The National Hurricane Center warned that Isaias will bring significant storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rains to the northern Gulf Coast. US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said federal authorities would coordinate response efforts with state and local governments, urging residents to complete emergency preparations immediately.

How it is being reported

• Hurricane Isaias disrupts U.S. oil production in Gulf of Mexico, threatens refineriesThe hurricane could tighten a fuel market that is already facing big disruptions from the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.CNBC · 9 Oct, 15:13
• Hurricane Isaias intensifies en route to US Gulf CoastOil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has already been affected by the approaching hurricane, which has strengthened so far to Category 2.DW News · 9 Oct, 12:55

In this story: Hurricane Isaias · Gulf of Mexico · Florida · Mississippi · Alabama · Chevron · Vertex Energy · National Hurricane Center

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem