Hurricane Ike demands attention

Pictures starting to flow in from the destruction in the Caribean -- these Haiti pictures are by
Radio Nederland Wereldomroep on Flickr.com

Some the headlines developing:

Up-to-date changes and cancellations in Corpus Christi (Caller Times)

Navy shifts personnel in advance of Ike. Corpus Christi (Caller Times)

The pre-storm hotel rush is on Corpus Christi (Caller Times)

Evacuation of coastal residents ordered near Houston -- Houston Chronicle


The Material Management Service which overseas U.S. interest in oil and gas drilling said yesterday "personnel have been evacuated from a total of 167 production platforms, equivalent to 23.3 % of the 717 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Production platforms are the structures located offshore from which oil and natural gas are produced. These structures remain in the same location throughout a project’s duration unlike drilling rigs which typically move from location to location. "

The service added " Personnel from 44 rigs have also been evacuated; this is equivalent to 36.4 % of the 121 rigs currently operating in the Gulf. Rigs caninclude several types of self-contained offshore drilling facilitiesincluding jackups, submersibles and semisubmersibles.

From the operators’ reports, it is estimated that approximately 77.5% of the oil production in the Gulf has been shut-in. Estimated current oil production from the Gulf of Mexico is 1.3 millionbarrels of oil per day. It is also estimated that approximately 64.8% of the natural gas production in the Gulf has been shut-in. ..."

-steve buser