ReportWire

Tag: Gulf of Mexico

  • US gets 1 bid for oil and gas lease in Alaska’s Cook Inlet

    US gets 1 bid for oil and gas lease in Alaska’s Cook Inlet

    [ad_1]

    The U.S. government on Friday said it received one bid for the right to drill offshore for oil and gas in Alaska’s Cook Inlet near habitat for bears, salmon, humpback whales and endangered beluga whales.

    Hilcorp Alaska LLC submitted the sole bid — $63,983 for an area covering 2,304 hectares or 5,693 acres.

    The company is a unit of Hilcorp, which is the largest privately held oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. It already has leases to drill for oil and gas in onshore areas of Cook Inlet, which stretches from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska.

    The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which conducted the sale via livestream, was offering leases for 193 blocks totaling some 958,000 acres (388,000 hectares) but received just one bid for one block.

    The U.S. Interior Department in May said it would not move forward with the Cook Inlet lease sale due to a “lack of industry interest.” But over the summer, Congress passed legislation that called for a Cook Inlet lease sale by year’s end and two Gulf of Mexico lease sales next year. The provisions were part of the Inflation Reduction Act, a sprawling package that also included major investments to fight climate change.

    Environmentalists criticized the sale, saying oil and gas leases undermine efforts to address climate change. They also expressed concern that an oil spill could harm wildlife, subsistence gathering and commercial and sport fishing.

    Hilcorp said it was proud of its work to revitalize natural gas production in Cook Inlet, which it said nearly two-thirds of Alaskans depend on to heat and power their homes and businesses.

    “We look forward to continuing to responsibly produce Alaskan oil and natural gas, create Alaskan jobs and contribute to the state’s economy for decades to come,” the company said in a statement.

    Dyani Chapman, the director of Alaska Environment, a nonprofit organization, said Alaska should be looking forward to a cleaner, greener future in the coming year.

    “Instead, we’re closing out 2022 with a lease for more dirty, dangerous offshore drilling,” Chapman said in a statement. “For the sake of our beluga whales, northern sea otters, salmon and more, we urge companies to recognize that drilling in Cook Inlet should be left in the past.”

    Environmental groups earlier this month sued the Biden administration over the sale, saying an environmental review failed to adequately evaluate how it would affect whales. It also argued that a greenhouse gas emissions analysis was based on flawed modeling and that the review failed to consider “a reasonable range of alternatives” for the lease sale.

    The Cook Inlet basin is Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin, dating back to the 1950s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

    The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says the new lease will be awarded after a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value. The Department of Justice will also review the sale for antitrust considerations.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Helicopter with 4 on board crashes in Gulf of Mexico

    Helicopter with 4 on board crashes in Gulf of Mexico

    [ad_1]

    The U.S. Coast Guard spent hours Thursday searching the waters off Louisiana for four people on board a helicopter that crashed while departing an oil platform.

    The helicopter’s pilot and three oil workers went into the Gulf of Mexico about 8:40 a.m. CST, said Petty Officer Jose Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard’s 8th District headquartered in New Orleans. Crews in a boat and a helicopter had found no sign of them by evening.

    “So far we’ve only found debris and no people,” Hernandez said.

    The Coast Guard suspended the search at around 6:15 p.m. local time. Crews searched an area of approximately 180 square miles for 8 hours, the Coast Guard said.

    “It is always a difficult decision to suspend a search,” Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and friends during this difficult time.”

    One of the missing workers is 36-year-old David Scarborough of Lizana, Mississippi, according to his wife. Lacy Scarborough told the Sun Herald newspaper that she is expecting a baby and that her husband recently got a job promotion.

    She said her family was praying that her husband and the others would be rescued safely.

    “He enjoyed his job and his co-workers,” Lacy Scarborough said.

    The helicopter went down about 10 miles (16 kilometers) offshore of Southwest Pass, a shipping channel at the mouth of the Mississippi River southeast of New Orleans. Helicopters routinely transport workers to and from oil platforms in the Gulf.

    Hernandez said the oil platform is operated by Houston-based Walter Oil and Gas. The Associated Press reached out to a spokesperson for the company, who was not immediately available for comment.

    Weather didn’t appear to be a factor in the crash, Hernandez said, as there were no reports of storms in the area Thursday.

    The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.

    Two weeks ago, the Coast Guard rescued three people after a helicopter crashed off the Louisiana coast while attempting to land on an oil rig platform. That crash occurred Dec. 15 south of Terrebonne Bay, roughly 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of the area the Coast Guard was searching Thursday.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • He told his sister he was going to the bathroom. Then he came to in the Gulf of Mexico.

    He told his sister he was going to the bathroom. Then he came to in the Gulf of Mexico.

    [ad_1]

    He spent nearly 20 hours alone, treading water in the Gulf of Mexico after falling off a cruise ship and being saved on Thanksgiving. James Michael Grimes spoke about the experience Friday, saying it has taught him to not take life for granted.

    “My worst fear is drowning and that was something I did not want to have to face,” Grimes told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I wanted to see my family again. I was dead set on making it out of there. I was never accepting that this was it, that this was going to be the end of my life.”

    The 28-year-old from Lafayette, Alabama, was with 18 relatives on a Carnival cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, when somehow, he ended up overboard after a day of fun.

    On Nov. 23, he had won an air-guitar contest held on the cruise and remembers telling his sister around 11 p.m. that first night on board that he was going to the bathroom, he said. What happened next remains unclear. He said he doesn’t remember falling or landing in the water.

    “When I came to, regained consciousness, I was in the water with no boat in sight,” he said. “I can’t float myself, even when I’m trying to. So there had to be … the Lord was with me while I was out there because something was holding me up the whole time I was passed out.”

    One of the U.S. Coast Guard officers who later saved him, aviation survival technician Richard Hoefle, told CBS News he believes Grimes “had about 30 seconds to a minute left before we would have lost him.”

    The 28-year-old man had “an incredible will to survive,” Hoefle said.

    At some point, Grimes said he thought he saw the fin of a shark, kicking at something that bumped into his leg. He later chewed on a stick he found floating in the water that appeared to be bamboo. 

    “It gave some type of flavor in my mouth other than saltwater,” he said.

    As time passed and the sun began to set, Grimes said the water started getting colder.

    “At that time, I thought, how much longer am I going to have to be out here,” he said. “The fall didn’t kill me and the sea creatures didn’t eat me. I felt like I was meant to get out here.”

    Then, he saw the lights of a tanker ship and began swimming toward it.

    “That was my final little burst of energy,” Grimes said. “The strength that I had, I used pretty much every bit of it to try to make it.”

    He said the Coast Guard circled the tanker two or three times looking for him.

    “I’d done taken off my socks and everything and was just waving them around my head, trying to do something where they could see me, and when that light finally hit me, somehow I heard, ‘We got him,’ and I seen a guy coming down from a helicopter and … right then I thought, ‘man I seen the light.’”

    Dramatic video shows Coast Guard rescuing man who went overboard on Carnival cruise
    A screen grab from video of the U.S. Coast Guard rescuing a man who went overboard on a Carnival cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Nov. 24, 2022. 

    U.S. Coast Guard


    Grimes said he remembered telling his rescuer he was naked and he told him that was fine. 

    “He told me to hold on to this life vest, and I was just thinking ‘Thank you, you were like a guardian angel coming down for me,’” he said.

    It’s been a week since the incident, and Grimes said the experience has opened his eyes. While dressing in a pair of pants he planned to wear on the cruise, Grimes said he found a fortune cookie fortune in the pants pocket that read “Life’s a beach. Enjoy the waves.”

    Though harrowing, Grimes said the experience will not discourage him from taking another cruise.

    “I might not get within 10-foot of the rails, but I’d definitely be open to going on another cruise, because I really didn’t get to go on this one,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Coast Guard diver on saving cruise passenger who went overboard

    Coast Guard diver on saving cruise passenger who went overboard

    [ad_1]

    Coast Guard diver on saving cruise passenger who went overboard – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    One of the Coast Guard officers who helped pull off a remarkable rescue of a man who fell off a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico says the man was close to death when he was pulled out of the water.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • ‘Miracle’: Missing cruise ship passenger found OK in water

    ‘Miracle’: Missing cruise ship passenger found OK in water

    [ad_1]

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a passenger who went overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued on Thanksgiving after likely being in the water for hours.

    The 28-year-old man was reported missing at noon Thursday while the vessel, the Carnival Valor, was heading to Cozumel, Mexico. According to Carnival Cruise Line, the man was with his sister at a bar on Carnival Valor Wednesday at 11 p.m. and went to use the restroom. His sister reported him missing the next day after the man did not return to his stateroom.

    The Coast Guard launched search and rescue crews Thursday afternoon and alerted nearby ships to be watchful.

    Coast Guard Lt. Seth Gross said a cargo ship later saw a person in the water about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, and the mouth of the Mississippi River. Gross said the man confirmed he was the missing cruise ship passenger after he was hoisted into a helicopter about 8:25 p.m. Thursday.

    “He appeared to be suffering from mild hypothermia, shock, dehydration, but his condition overall appeared stable,” Gross told WWL-TV, adding the man was taken for medical care.

    Gross called the rescue “a miracle especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving.”

    In a statement, Carnival said: “We greatly appreciate the efforts of all, most especially the U.S. Coast Guard and the mariner who spotted the guest in the water.”

    The man’s name has not been released.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ian ruins man-made reefs, brings algae bloom to Florida

    Ian ruins man-made reefs, brings algae bloom to Florida

    [ad_1]

    FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian not only ravaged southwest Florida on land but was destructive underwater as well. It destroyed man-made reefs and brought along red tide, the harmful algae blooms that kill fish and birds, according to marine researchers who returned last week from a six-day cruise organized by the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

    Researchers who used the cruise to study marine life in the Gulf of Mexico following the hurricane say it left in its wake red tide and destroyed artificial reefs from as far away as 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the coast of southwest Florida.

    “The one-time vibrant reefs are now underwater disaster sites themselves,” said Calli Johnson, safety dive officer for the research cruise. “Where there used to be a complete ecosystem, there are now only fish that were able to return after swimming away.”

    Before the Category 4 storm made landfall a month ago, southwest Florida had a reputation for being one of the best saltwater fishing destinations in the U.S. Saltwater and freshwater fishing in Florida has an economic impact of around $13.8 billion, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

    “Time will tell how this affects our greater economy, because changes in the fishing industry and tourism will come from changes in our underwater world,” Johnson said.

    The marine researchers on the cruise found high counts of the naturally-occurring algae that causes red tide offshore Punta Gorda, Boca Grande and southwest of Sanibel Island. It will be several weeks before researchers can analyze water samples that were collected to determine the threat to sea life off the Florida coast.

    The red tide outbreak also is threatening manatees off Sarasota and Charlotte counties that rely on seagrass for food, according to the Ocean Conservancy.

    “Florida is at a crossroads, with a record number of manatees dying,” said J.P. Brooker, director of Florida conservation for the Ocean Conservancy. “We must keep this issue at the forefront, so leaders statewide will invest in solutions to improve water quality—protecting natural habitats to save our beloved manatees.”

    Through mid-October, there have been 719 manatee deaths recorded by Florida wildlife officials. There were 982 manatee deaths last year.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Florida shrimpers race to get battered fleet back to sea

    Florida shrimpers race to get battered fleet back to sea

    [ad_1]

    FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — The seafood industry in southwest Florida is racing against time and the elements to save what’s left of a major shrimping fleet — and a lifestyle — that was battered by Hurricane Ian.

    The storm’s ferocious wind and powerful surge hurled a couple dozen shrimp boats atop wharves and homes along the harbor on Estero Island. Jesse Clapham, who oversees a dozen trawlers for a large seafood company at Fort Myers Beach, is trying to get boats back to sea as quickly as possible — before their engines, winches and pulleys seize up from being out of the water.

    One of two shrimpers that didn’t sink or get tossed onto land went out Sunday, but the victory was small compared with the task ahead.

    “There’s 300 people who work for us and all of them are out of a job right now. I’m sure they’d rather just mow all this stuff down and build a giant condo here, but we’re not going to give up,” said Clapham, who manages the fishing fleet at Erickson and Jensen Seafood, which he said handles $10 million in shrimp annually.

    The company’s fractured wharves, flooded office and processing house are located on Main Street beside another large seafood company, Trico Shrimp Co. There, a crane lifted the outrigger of grounded shrimper Aces & Eights — the first step toward getting it back in the water. Across the yard, the massive Kayden Nicole and Renee Lynn sat side-by-side in the parking lot, stern to bow.

    Shrimping is the largest piece of Florida’s seafood industry, with a value of almost $52 million in 2016, state statistics show. Gulf of Mexico shrimp from Fort Myers has been shipped all over the United States for generations.

    Now, it’s a matter of when the fishing can resume and whether there will still be experienced crews to operate the boats when that happens.

    Deckhand Michele Bryant didn’t just lose a job when the boat where she works was grounded, she lost her home. Shrimping crews are at sea for as long as two months at a time, she said, so members often don’t have homes on land.

    “I’ve got nowhere to stay,” she said. “I’m living in a tent.”

    Richard Brown’s situation is just as precarious. A citizen of Guyana who was working on a boat out of Miami when Ian hit southwest Florida, Brown rode out the storm on one of four boats that were lashed together along a harbor seawall.

    “We tried to fight the storm. The lines were bursting. We kept replacing them but when the wind turned everybody was on land,” he said.

    There’s no way to catch shrimp on a boat surrounded by dirt, so Brown is staying busy scraping barnacles off the hull of the Gulf Star. “It’s like it’s on dry dock,” he said — but he’s no more sure what to do now than at the height of the storm.

    “It was terrifying – the worst experience,” said Brown, who is more than 2,160 miles (3,480 kilometers) from his home in South America. “I was just thinking, ‘You could abandon the ship.’ But where are you going?”

    Seafood fleets along the Gulf Coast are used to getting wiped out by hurricanes. Katrina pummeled the industry from Louisiana to Alabama in 2005, and the seafood business in southern Louisiana is still recovering from Hurricane Ida’s punch last year. But this part of Florida hasn’t seen a storm like Ian in a century, leaving people to wonder what happens next.

    Dale Kalliainen and his brother followed their father into the shrimping business and owns the trawler Night Wind, which landed amid a mobile home park near a bridge. He said high fuel prices and low-cost imported seafood took a bite out the industry long before Ian did its worst.

    “There used to be 300 boats in this harbor and now there’s maybe 50,” he said. “It’s going to be probably years before this business is even close to being back to what it was.”

    Clapham, the 47-year-old fleet manager, has spent his entire life on shrimp boats. The industry already operates on a thin margin and needs help recovering from Ian, he said.

    “These boats go out and catch $60,000, $70,000 worth of shrimp a month, but it costs $30,000 to $50,000 to put fuel on them and groceries and supplies, and then you’ve got to pay the crew. And sometimes these boats’ (catches) don’t even pay for everything,” he said. “We take money from one boat and get another boat going and send ’em back fishing just to keep going.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 2 from sunken boat fend off sharks during Coast Guard rescue

    2 from sunken boat fend off sharks during Coast Guard rescue

    [ad_1]

    NEW ORLEANS — Two people from a sunken fishing boat were fending off sharks in the Gulf of Mexico when a crew rescued them and one other person from waters off the Louisiana coastline, the Coast Guard said.

    The Coast Guard launched a search after a relative reported the three people failed to return from a fishing trip Saturday evening.

    The 24-foot (7.3-meter), center-console fishing boat sank about 10 a.m. Saturday and stranded the three people without communication devices, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

    The three were wearing lifejackets and one was showing signs of hypothermia when they were rescued Sunday about 25 miles (40.2 kilometers) offshore from Empire, Louisiana, a small community southeast of New Orleans. They had been in the water more than 24 hours.

    The news release said a Coast Guard boat crew saw two of the people fending off sharks, and both of them had injured hands. The crew pulled them from the water, and the two were lifted onto a helicopter. The helicopter crew lifted the third boater from the water.

    The two injured people were taken to University Medical Center New Orleans, where they were listed as stable. The Coast Guard did not release their names and did not specify whether the injuries were from bites, from being scraped against sharks’ sandpaper-like skin or from another cause.

    “If the family member had not notified the Coast Guard, and if these three boaters were not wearing life jackets, this could’ve been a completely different outcome,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, a Coast Guard search and rescue mission coordinator in New Orleans.

    The news release said Coast Guard crews in two boats, two planes and a helicopter searched about 1,250 square miles (3,237.5 square kilometers) of water, slightly larger than the size of Rhode Island.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Vulnerable Tampa Bay braces for storm not seen in a century

    Vulnerable Tampa Bay braces for storm not seen in a century

    [ad_1]

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It’s been more than a century since a major storm like Hurricane Ian has struck the Tampa Bay area, which blossomed from a few hundred thousand people in 1921 to more than 3 million today.

    Many of these people live in low-lying neighborhoods that are highly susceptible to storm surge and flooding they have rarely before experienced, which some experts say could be worsened by the effects of climate change.

    The problem confronting the region is that storms approaching from the south, as Hurricane Ian is on track to do, bulldoze huge volumes of water up into shallow Tampa Bay and are likely to inundate homes and businesses. The adjacent Gulf of Mexico is also shallow.

    “Strong persistent winds will push a lot of water into the bay and there’s nowhere for it to go, so it just builds up,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science. “Tampa Bay is very surge-prone because of its orientation.”

    The National Hurricane Center is predicting storm surge in Tampa Bay and surrounding waters of between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3 meters) above normal tide conditions and rainfall of between 10 and 15 inches (12 and 25 centimeters) because of Hurricane Ian.

    “That’s a lot of rain. That’s not going to drain out quickly,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg and Clearwater are located. “This is no joke. This is life-threatening storm surge.”

    Officials in the area began issuing evacuation orders Monday for a wide swath of Tampa, with the St. Petersburg area soon to follow. The evacuations could affect 300,000 people or more in Hillsborough County alone.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis took note of the region’s vulnerability in a Monday afternoon news conference in Largo, Florida.

    “Clearly, when you look at the Tampa Bay area, one of the reasons why we fear storms is because of the sensitivity of this area and the fragility of this area,” DeSantis said.

    The last time Tampa Bay was hit by a major storm was Oct. 25, 1921. The hurricane had no official name but is known locally as the Tarpon Springs storm, for the seaside town famed for its sponge-diving docks and Greek heritage where it came ashore.

    The storm surge from that hurricane, estimated at Category 3 with winds of up to 129 mph ( 207 km/h) was pegged at 11 feet (3.3 meters). At least eight people died and damage was estimated at $5 million at the time.

    Now, the tourist-friendly region known for its sugar-sand beaches has grown by leaps and bounds, with homes and businesses along the water the ideal locations — most of the time. Hurricane Ian could threaten all of that development.

    Just as an example, the city of Tampa had about 51,000 residents in 1920. Today, that number is almost 395,000. Many of the other cities in the region have experienced similar explosive growth.

    A report from the Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark and Co. concluded in 2015 that Tampa Bay is the most vulnerable place in the U.S. to storm surge flooding from a hurricane and stands to lose $175 billion in damage. A World Bank study a few years before that placed Tampa as the seventh-most vulnerable city to major storms on the entire globe.

    Yet for years storms seemed to bypass the region somewhat inexplicably. Phil Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, noted that only one of five hurricanes at Category 3 strength or higher has struck Tampa Bay since 1851.

    “In general, cyclones moving over the Gulf of Mexico had a tendency of passing well north of Tampa,” the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said in report on the 1921 storm.

    Also lurking in the waves and wind are the impacts of climate change and the higher sea levels scientists say it is causing.

    “Due to global warming, global climate models predict hurricanes will likely cause more intense rainfall and have an increased coastal flood risk due to higher storm surge caused by rising seas,” Angela Colbert, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, wrote in a June report.

    McNoldy, the University of Miami researcher, noted that Hurricane Andrew’s storm surge today would be 7 inches (17 centimeters) higher than it was when that storm pounded South Florida 30 years ago.

    “As sea level rises, the same storm surge will be able to flood more areas because the baseline upon which it’s happening is higher,” McNoldy said.

    Amid all the science, a local legend has it that blessings from Native Americans who once called the region home have largely protected it from major storms for centuries. Part of that legend is the many mounds built by the Tocobagan tribe in what is now Pinellas County that some believe are meant as guardians against invaders, including hurricanes.

    Rui Farias, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, told the Tampa Bay Times after Hurricane Irma’s near miss in 2017 that many people still believe it.

    “It’s almost like when a myth becomes history,” Farias said. “As time goes on, it comes true.”

    It appears Hurricane Ian will give that legend a test in the coming days.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee contributed to this story.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hurricane Ian nears Cuba on path to strike Florida as Cat 4

    Hurricane Ian nears Cuba on path to strike Florida as Cat 4

    [ad_1]

    HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian was growing stronger as it barreled toward Cuba on a track to hit Florida’s west coast as a major hurricane as early as Wednesday.

    Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane and then become an even stronger Category 4 with top winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before striking Florida.

    As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be the among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

    “Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a news conference on storm preparations in Tampa.

    Authorities in Cuba were evacuating 50,000 people in Pinar del Rio province, sent in medical and emergency personnel, and took steps to protect food and other crops in warehouses, according to state media.

    “Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,” U.S. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press.

    The hurricane center predicted areas of Cuba’s western coast could see as much as 14 feet (4.3 meters) of storm surge Monday night or early Tuesday.

    In Havana, fishermen were taking their boats out of the water along the famous Malecon, the seaside boardwalk, and city workers were unclogging storm drains ahead of the expected rain.

    Havana resident Adyz Ladron, 35, said the potential for rising water from the storm worries him.

    “I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here,” he said, pointing to his chest.

    In Havana’s El Fanguito, a poor neighborhood near the Almendares River, residents were packing up what they could to leave their homes, many of which show damage from previous storms.

    “I hope we escape this one because it would be the end of us. We already have so little,” health worker Abel Rodrigues, 54, said.

    On Monday night, Ian was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 km/h), about 105 miles (169 kilometers) southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with top sustained winds increasing to 105 mph (169 km/h).

    The center of the hurricane passed to the west of the Cayman Islands, but no major damage was reported there Monday, and residents were going back into the streets as the winds died down.

    “We seem to have dodged the bullet” Grand Cayman resident Gary Hollins said. “I am a happy camper.”

    Ian won’t linger over Cuba but will slow down over the Gulf of Mexico, growing wider and stronger, “which will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm surge impacts along the west coast of Florida,” the hurricane center said.

    A surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) of ocean water and 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was predicted across the Tampa Bay area, with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) inches in isolated areas. That’s enough water to inundate coastal communities.

    As many as 300,000 people may be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said. Some of those evacuations were beginning Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas, with schools and other locations opening as shelters.

    “We must do everything we can to protect our residents. Time is of the essence,” Wise said.

    Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and cleared store shelves of bottled water. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a statewide emergency and warned that Ian could lash large areas of the state, knocking out power and interrupting fuel supplies as it swirls northward off the state’s Gulf Coast.

    “You have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “That’s going to cause a huge amount of storm surge. You’re going to have flood events. You’re going to have a lot of different impacts.”

    DeSantis said the state has suspended tolls around the Tampa Bay area and mobilized 5,000 Florida state national guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighboring states.

    President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a scheduled Tuesday trip to Florida because of the storm.

    Playing it safe, NASA planned to slowly roll its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight.

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Monday night that the football team was relocating football operations to the Miami area in preparation for next weekend’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers said the team will leave Tampa on Tuesday.

    Flash flooding was predicted for much of the Florida peninsula, and heavy rainfall was possible for the southeast United States later this week. With tropical storm force winds extending 115 miles (185 kilometers) from Ian’s center, watches covered the Florida Keys to Lake Okeechobee.

    Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida, which includes St. Petersburg, said in a briefing that although no one will be forced to leave, mandatory evacuation orders are expected to begin Tuesday.

    “What it means is, we’re not going to come help you. If you don’t do it, you’re on your own,” Gualtieri said.

    Zones to be evacuated include all along Tampa Bay and the rivers that feed it. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch urged residents not to ignore any evacuation orders.

    “This is a very real threat that this storm poses to our community,” Welch said.

    The hurricane center has advised Floridians to have survival plans in place and monitor updates of the storm’s evolving path.

    ___

    Associated Press contributors include Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; and Julie Walker in New York.

    [ad_2]

    Source link