The energy industry is “very well prepared for this type of storm,” U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. President Donald Trump has ordered him to make the Strategic Petroleum Reserve available for such situations, he said.
The city of Port Arthur will order some residents to flee the storm starting Tuesday, according to the city’s website. Jefferson County put in place a mandatory evacuation order for all except essential personnel such as employees of oil terminals, pipelines, oil-supply facilities, hospitals and utilities, it said in a statement.
Houston-area government officials urged resident of the city’s eastern suburbs to evacuate as Hurricane Laura approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast.
There might be some hesitation to flee Laura because of Covid-19, “but if you live in a low-lying area near the coast, this storm is a bigger threat than the virus,” Watson said.
Laura is poised to menace the epicenter of the U.S. liquefied natural gas export industry, where terminals are located. Cheniere Energy Inc. said it was temporarily suspending operations at its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, the nation’s largest. Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG in Louisiana will operate at reduced rates.
Western sugarcane in Louisiana between Lake Charles and Lafayette will be the most at risk from Laura, said Drew Lerner, president of World Weather Inc. in Overland Park, Kansas. Things would be worse if the storm veers more to the east.
For cotton crops, some parts of western Mississippi Delta area, central and interior parts of Arkansas also could be impacted, he said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves have all declared emergencies. Laura has already killed at least nine people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Associated Press reported.
Thirteen storms have now formed across the Atlantic this year, including five that hit the U.S.
This story was provided by Bloomberg News.