Hurricane Alex Hampers Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Cleanup (Update)

The storm's center was located at 1 pm CDT Wednesday by a reconnaissance aircraft and the National Weather Service about 130 miles south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Maximum sustained winds have increased overnight from 75 to 85 miles per hour and the hurricane is moving mostly westward at an increased speed of 12 miles per hour.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande and the coast of Mexico from the mouth of the Rio Grane to La Cruz.

Alex is a Category One Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpsom Wind Scale but has the potential to become a Category Two hurricane before landfall, forecast to occur in northeastern Mexico late tonight or early Thursday morning. A gradual weakening should begin after the center crosses the coastline, forecasters said this afternoon.

Hurricane Alex spins across the Gulf of Mexico (Photo courtesy NOAA)

About 500 miles away, at the site of the BP oil spill 40 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta, waves are about seven feet high and the wind is blowing at 17 to 22 knots (19 to 25 miles per hour), said National Incident Commander U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

In the next 24 hours, Allen expects the winds to diminish to speeds of 12-14 knots (13 to 16 mph) and the seas to return to calmer conditions.

While the Coast Guard and BP are not evacuating equipment, oil spill cleanup operations in the central part of the gulf are being affected by Hurricane Alex. BP contractors and Coast Guard personnel based at Branch Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, closed off passes with floating barriers to keep any oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill out of the marshes. Many of the skimming vessels are remaining tied up today as they are not very effective in higher seas.

Admiral Allen told reporters today that capture of oil from the leaking well has not been interrupted by the hurricane and that on Tuesday two surface vessels received 25,000 barrels through pipes from the damaged wellhead.

But the hurricane has delayed the hookup of a third vessel to the wellhead that is expected to increase the oil capture rate to 53,000 barrels per day. The highest flow rate estimate is 60,000 bpd, so when the third vessel is added, the leak will be minimized.

"Absent Hurricane Alex, we thought we'd have a 53,000 barrel per day production capacity. We could then close the vents on the containment cap and some of that leakage would go away. But that's off to first week of July now," the admiral said.

"We have a set of criteria by which if we thought we're going to get gale force winds in 120 hours, we would start to redeploy that equipment, but those criteria are not met in this current storm," he said.

BP is drilling two relief wells in its attempt to intercept the oil spewing into gulf waters, but in case of a strong hurricane that endeavor would have to stop.

Admiral Allen told reporters, "Regarding the relief wells, if we have to evacuate the site because of a hurricane, we estimate that there could be a break of about 14 days to take down the equipment, move it off to a safe place, and then bring it back and reestablish the drilling."

Over parts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, Hurricane Alex is expected to produce rainfall of six to 12 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches.

The National Hurricane Center says these rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. "A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as three to five feet above ground level along the immediate coast to the north of where the center makes landfall," forecasters said. The surge could penetrate inland as far as several miles from the shore with depth generally decreasing as the water moves inland.

Near the coast, the surge is forecast to be accompanied by large and destructive waves.

Admiral Allen said Monday, "Any kind of a surge from a storm would, obviously, exacerbate the oil, move it further into marshes, and would cause problems for us. So we're going to face that potential throughout the hurricane season should we have any kind of heavy weather."

On land, preparations for an emergency are underway. The National Response Coordination Center was put on higher alert today and most federal emergency support functions were activated. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is prepositioning assets at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has declared a state of disaster for 19 counties in south Texas, and President Barack Obama has issued an emergency declaration that allows the state to pursue some federal assistance for debris removal and actions taken to prepare for Alex.

"As Texas continues to monitor this storm and prepare for its impact on our coast, I urge residents living in areas in Tropical Storm Alex's projected path to take the necessary measures to protect life and property," Governor Perry said. "We will continue to work with local officials as this storm makes its way toward our communities."

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said he is confident the state's plans to respond to any potential impact Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have on Texas will be effective.

"Texas has a long history in the energy industry, and because oil regularly comes in and out of our ports, we have prepared ourselves to respond to any incidents, and have a good record of keeping our beaches clean and the bays and wetlands clear of oil," Commissioner Patterson said today. "As a steward of the Texas coast, I am confident that we have the resources and plans in place with our Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program to address any potential impact this oil spill may have on the Texas coast."

Although oil from the spill is not predicted to reach Texas shores in the immediate future, any oil reaching Texas beaches is expected to be in the form of weathered tar balls, which cannot be prevented by boom deployment and would require physical removal. Patterson said the Texas General Land Office has five coastal offices equipped with boats, 4x4 trucks, trailers, ATVs, and skimmers available for response activities and silt curtains could be deployed to protect washouts.

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