NATIONAL IMPACT of Katrina - Please post sources on this thread...

[JGrubbs]

At Least Ten U.S. Airports Face Closure Due to Jet Fuel Shortages

Airlines and oil companies are working on plans to supply jet fuel to at least ten U.S. airports that could be shut down due to a lack of jet fuel caused by refinery and pipeline shutdowns from hurricane Katrina. The airports in most jeopardy for closure include Atlanta, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa, Washington Dulles and West Palm Beach.

AAG has learned that ChevronTexaco and Shell had cargoes loaded prior to the shutdowns destined for Florida ports. However, with the Colonial and Plantation pipelines shutdown due to a lost of power it could be sometime for shipments to reach airports from Atlanta to Washington D.C.

With future supply uncertain, airlines are working on plans to allocate jet fuel at critically short airports. “While some airports may have up to five days of supply we have to expect that we won’t receive additional shipments for some time. We either run down to flumes or we try to make it last as long as possible,” said one airline fuel manager. Today, airlines are working on plans to allocate fuel in hopes of extending available supply at problem locations.

Initial reports vary as to the extent of damage to Gulf Coast refining. But a longer term problem may not be refining infrastructure but providing shelter for refinery workers. “One of our refineries is scheduled to be back up soon but our real problem is finding housing for our workers. Most of their homes are destroyed or under water. Unless we can solve the housing problem we will not be fully operational for some time,” said one major oil company representative.

Source: AirportBusiness.com News

[ September 01, 2005, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: LadyEagle ]

 

[LadyEagle]

U.S. won't relocate soldiers for Katrina
9/1/2005, 10:04 a.m. CT
By JIM KRANE
The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — There will be no large-scale shifting of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to help with disaster relief in Louisiana and Mississippi, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said Thursday.

Lt. Col. Trey Cate said top military officials are exploring ways to bring individual troops home to take care of families in need without altering the balance of forces in the war zones.

But top commanders are unsure if homecoming service members can yet visit areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina due to flooding and evacuations that are under way.

"There are lots of different options of getting soldiers back there," said Cate, who is based in Qatar. "We're going to do our best to take care of the troops and their families."

In Baghdad, some 3,700 soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Enhanced Separate Brigade were preparing to return to their base in Lafayette, La., after spending nearly a year in combat in Iraq.

The 256th is expected to begin the trip home within weeks, and would be available for disaster relief at the discretion of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, said Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad.

"They are not going to redeploy early as they are already in the process of redeployment," Boylan said.

Navy Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, a U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman in Bahrain, said no U.S. warships in the Gulf would be redirected to disaster relief in the Gulf of Mexico, but individual sailors with family emergencies could be granted home leave.


National Guard units called up for rescue work in Louisiana and Mississippi had to make do without members currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Source

 

[TexasSky]

USA TODAY Thursday, September, 1, 2005, Chris Woodyard

"Katrina's Devastation - Motorists urged to drive less as gas supplies drop."

"Some independent gasoline stations started to run short of fuel Wednesday, lines formed in some places, and prices continued to rise.

AAA urged motorists to drive less and conserve fuel.

With two major pipelines and up to eight refineriers shut down, gasoline was getting tougher to find at some stations, particularly in the Midwest and on the east coast:

Indianapolis based Crystal Flash Petroleum stopped selling fuel at many of its 23 Indiana stores when its gulf-based supplier began rationing its fuel."

It goes on for many more paragraphs, and includes this: "Experts agree that gas prices will peak at an average above $3 a gallon, but "It's too early to say whether $4 a gallon is possible," said Dan Pickering, president of Houston consulting firm Pickering Energy Parnters.

Prices likely will climb high enough that motorists will cut back on driving, making gas available but expensive, said Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation."

 

[TexasSky]

Also from USA Today - 9-1-05 edition

"Economic Fallout will be massive" by David Lynch

"Impact from idled oil rigs to closed ports will ripple across nation and globe."

"People who thought of New Orleans only as a mecca of jazz and jambalaya are about to get a lesson in the unheralded commercial prominence of the Big Easy.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, oil rigs are idled. Major higways and bridges have collapsed like so many concerete dominos, and a celebrated city, now submerged, lies abandonded by it residents and isolated from the economic mainstream.

In coming weeks, the economic fallout will ripple across the country. Is it enough to tip the United States into recession? Probably not. But consumers will curse Katrina every time they gas up, and some major exporters already are puzzling over how they'll reach customers if Louisiana ports remain idle for a significant period."

It goes on and on.

 

[LadyEagle]

Nashville Gas Pumps out of Regular and Medium Grade gas at our Exxon Station. Only high test available over $3.00 per gallon.

 

[LadyEagle]

Orange County, Florida School District has no gas for busing students:

http://www.local6.com/education/4921057/detail.html

 

[Baptist Bro]

For regular updates on the situation in New Orleans, check out: www.nola.com

 

[LadyEagle]

Heard yesterday that most of our coffee comes through the ports in LA. That means coffee prices will be soaring within the next few days. We stocked up.

 

[El_Guero]

I would expect that the economic ripples will bounce around the nation for a year or two.