Watching cable news and not on the computer much today while outside the Cone Of Hurricane & Evacuation, I understand how the rest of America can be under-informed about what is happening on the ground. Flipping through cable news, my father is agitated by “a reporter almost blown away by Ike’s gusts” and the lack of coverage that gives him “a concise, quantitative explanation of what happened and when.” Sans computer in Las Vegas, D knows even less and called to ask if I had heard anything. Much of Houston and the coast all the way to Morgan City lack power, but beyond that I want how many feet of flooding, where, what broke, when, how … you know, the basic information any New Orleanian craves after a post-Katrina storm that hits the Gulf Coast. If you have anything to share that I can share with the affected and unaffected, that is not being broadcast by the MSM, please comment below or Twitter me. [Update: Now actively following Austin Statesman tweets from Galveston and fleurdelisgal in Houston.]
As far as energy is concerned, The Oil Drum has been great in tracking oil production and refining infrastructure locations and damage since days before Ike made landfall. This is their latest assessment:
From TOD: Rigs/Platforms: Blue: evacuated only; Yellow will require inspection before restart; Red: damage requiring repair; Refineries: Black: operational impact (partial shutdown) Green: Operational impact (full shutdown) Red: Damage likely
The post also mentions an MMS estimate that “97.5% of the oil production and 94.4% of the natural gas production in the Gulf has been shut-in,” emphasizes “critical pipeline structure expanding outward nationwide from the Houston/Port Arthur area” and, towards the end, provides many industry links to production and refinery information pertinent to Ike.
What else should I know about Ike? Comments, please.
Like during Rita, I have been riding out IKE on the West Coast for the past 10 days…
Maitri you rock!
P.S. The link(s) kind of addressed it, but the pipeline infrastructure issues are significant– a spaghetti bowl of steel on the bottom of the GOM and the coast. I don’t think that area is as quite as unstable as the mouth of the Mississippi River, but the last time I was at Texaco Island on the Port Arthur Ship Canal it was still an “uphill battle” to keep the island from eroding– miles of sheet pile had been installed many years ago all along the shoreline.