Environment

Hurricane Ike in Gulf of Mexico, headed for Texas

by Amy Judd | September 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm

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Thousands of people have fled the coastal areas of the United States today as Hurricane Ike continues to gather strength on its way to Texas.

One of our staff members has been evacuated and he is currently staying at his parents house, although he said it's a bit quiet where he is.

Ike is a Category 2 storm with 100 mph (160 kph) winds and could grow to a ferocious Category 4 storm on the five-step intensity scale with winds of 132 mph (213 kph) before coming ashore late on Friday or early on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The latest projections pointed Ike toward the middle of the Texas coast, skirting to the west of the main region for offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico, which provides a quarter of U.S. oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

Ike's current track would see it hit the Texas coast near Freeport in Brazoria County, just south of Galveston.

Tens of thousands of residents near Galveston and Port Arthur were ordered to evacuate, though the numbers are nowhere near the 2 million people who fled Louisiana coastal cities in the path of Hurricane Gustav, which hit on September 1.

Oil prices are becoming affected as Ike could colllide right with an offshore oil rig, and it has been evacuated already, so oil production has ceased for now.

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