Tropical storm Bill in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is causing rig evacuations. The storm is 300mi wide, with winds up to 50 mph and rainfall from 6-10in in some areas.
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Tropical Storm Bill (2015). From NOAA's National Hurricane Center Facebook. |
Enterprise Products evacuated 20 employees and contractors from three offshore service facility platforms in the western GOM as a safety precaution, company spokesman Rick Rainey says. “The facilities remain operational and should not impact production,” he said.
Chevron also removed nonessential staff from offshore facilities as the storm began to intensify.
Other companies reported plans to monitor operations and prepare to bring employees ashore.
Shell reports that it is prepared to reduce nonessential personnel on some offshore assets as a precautionary measure in addition to normal preparations for heavy weather, according to spokeswoman Kayla Macke.
BP reports efforts to monitor the disturbance in the Gulf although the company plans to continue normal operations.
Houston Ship Channel pilots ceased boarding outbound vessels, and is expected to shut down operations before nightfall today (16 June).
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Houston/Galveston said there was an increasing risk for heavy rainfall on Monday and continuing through Wednesday.
“Expect bands of showers and thunderstorms containing very heavy rainfall Tuesday and Wednesday associated with the tropical disturbance that will be moving across the Texas coast and then off to the North,” NWS forecasters said. “If everything lines up correctly rainfall totals through Wednesday for parts of the area could approach a 5-10in range, with some amounts exceeding 10in.”
Wunderground.com meteorologists Bob Henson and Jeff Masters reported that an offshore rig at South Marsh Block 268, about 50mi south of the Central Louisiana coast, measured sustained winds of 40 mph, gusting to 47 mph at 8:35 a.m. CDT Monday.
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