Ike forecast to miss US Gulf coast installations

09 September 2008 15:22  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The expected path of Hurricane Ike has veered several miles to the south, where it will miss Houston and much of the petrochemical industry situated along the US Gulf coast, meteorologists said on Tuesday.

Ike was now on track to hit somewhere south of Corpus Christi, Texas, by Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Corpus Christi is about 220 miles (354 km) south of Houston, the nation's petrochemical hub.

Earlier forecasts had placed the landfall just south of Houston.

While Ike could miss Houston, it would likely pass through the Gulf of Mexico, weather forecasters reported earlier, which could cause several companies to evacuate platforms and rigs.  

Much of the crude oil and natural gas production in the Gulf was still shut-in as a result of Hurricane Gustav, an earlier storm that had passed through region on its way to Louisiana.

As of 07:00 hours Houston time (12:00 GMT), Ike's centre was about 40 miles south of Havana, Cuba - where it killed at least four people - moving west-northwest at about 13 miles/hour, meteorologists said.

Maximum winds were near 80 miles/hour, said the centre, making Ike a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

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By: Al Greenwood
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