Bonnie Hits Miami, Tracking Over Oil Spill Area
July 23, 2010 – Tropical Storm Bonnie struck southern Florida today and is tracking toward the Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup area located about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans, but federal officials expect it to lose strength and have little impact on the oil spill.
Bonnie, the second named-storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of 40 mph as it crossed over Miami and southern Florida this afternoon, bringing heavy rains and localized flooding but causing relatively little damage. Waves of 8 to 10 feet have halted oil recovery efforts in the Gulf as the storm passes this weekend, and federal officials yesterday said crews were having difficulty finding oil on the surface. The storm likely will dissipate as it crosses Florida and heads back into the Gulf of Mexico toward the oil cleanup site tomorrow, officials for the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami.
Tropical Storm Bonnie is expected to make landfall somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and Louisiana along the Gulf Coast Sunday, but current conditions suggest the storm won’t gain strength over open water, federal weather forecasters said. With the storm tracking toward the cleanup site, BP and federal officials temporarily halted cleanup operations, but the federal government’s point man said it’s getting harder to locate surface oil after finally sealing the gushing oil well last week. Officials also said the first of two relief wells being dug to intercept and permanently seal the leaking oil well located 5,000 feet beneath the surface likely will be active soon, but the storm might delay the operation by up to two weeks.
The storm is the second of the year to halt cleanup operations. The deadly Hurricane Alex in late June missed Texas, but made landfall in Northeastern Mexico as a category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of up to 105 miles per hour. The storm dumped nearly three feet of rain in some areas as it moved inland, killing more than 50 people and causing a great deal of flooding in Mexico while forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. BP officials temporarily shut down surface operations while the Hurricane Alex passed, but undersea drilling of two relief wells continued unabated.
Alex was the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic storm season, which forecasters predict will be very active. Although Alex had only a minimal impact on Gulf oil cleanup efforts, the next storm could prove more daunting. A direct hit from a storm would halt entire effort in the Gulf of Mexico for up to two weeks, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
Officials for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center recently released the federal weather agency’s annual hurricane season outlook, which calls for between 14 and 23 named tropical storms – between eight and 14 of which are expected to develop into hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Between three and seven storms are predicted to develop into “major” hurricanes with wind speeds of at least 111 mph.
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