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Source: Reuters -
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Hurricane Ida has roared through the Gulf of Mexico, where
important oil fields are located, after triggering floods and
mudslides that killed 124 people in El Salvador.
Ida swept past the Mexican resort of Cancun, doing little damage to
the city, and is expected to weaken gradually as it heads toward
some of the oil and gas production facilities in the central
Gulf.
The US National Hurricane Center says the storm reached hurricane force again late on Saturday and strengthened to a Category 2 storm on Sunday with sustained winds of nearly 165 kph.
Some energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico are evacuating workers from offshore platforms and at least two large producers - BP and Marathon Oil - have shut down some oil and gas production as a precautionary measure.
Other companies are preparing for possible
shutdowns.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the only terminal in the US
capable of handling the largest tankers, says it will stop
unloading ships due to stormy seas.
A quarter of US oil and 15% of its natural gas are produced from
fields in the Gulf and the coast is home to 40% of the nation's
refining capacity.
The hurricane centre has set a hurricane watch from Grand Isle,
Louisiana, to Mexico Beach in north-western Florida, but did not
include the city of New Orleans.
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are expected in the area within 36 hours.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal earlier declared a state of emergency, allowing the government to mobilize troops and rescue workers.
If Ida makes landfall in Louisiana it would be the first storm to strike the state since Hurricane Gustav came ashore in September 2008.
Death toll rises
In El Salvador, rivers burst their banks and hillsides collapsed
under relentless rains triggered by Ida's passage, cutting off
parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the
country.
El Salvador's government says 124 people were killed as mudslides
and floods crushed homes and swept away rudimentary houses.
The bulk of the Central American country's coffee is grown in areas far from the worst affects of the flooding but the national coffee association has no estimate of potential damage to the harvest.
About 1,000 people were evacuated from Mexico's Holbox Island,
an isolated fishing community and sanctuary for thousands of
flamingos and other exotic birds located northwest of Cancun.
Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of
Nicaragua, where heavy rains forced more than 5,000 people into
shelters.
The country's coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council.
