Oil Spill v/s Hurricane

[teasasue]

How do you think the hurricane will effect the oil spill? More damage?

[LadyShea]

This hurricane is, luckily, not making landfall in the oil affected areas (the Northern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle). However, the Southwesterly wind bands are making it up here and will be pushing more oil onto land in Louisiana mainly, but we will all get hit hard. Also, the winds are preventing skimming and booming operations, which keep some of the oil off.

More damage? Probably. Definitely more oil, all at once, than we've been getting, but I am not sure how that may or may not equate to damage.

If the various barriers they put in place to protect bays and estuaries are breached, yeah, that could cause a lot more damage.

[teasasue]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

More damage? Probably. Definitely more oil, all at once, than we've been getting, but I am not sure how that may or may not equate to damage.

I wonder if that will make it easier to clean up after the hurricane is gone? It sounds like it will bring more oil on shore and take more out of the water, so there will be less in the water afterwards. Does that sound about right?

[LadyShea]

If the oil wasn't continuing to spew hundred of gallons an hour at the rig site, then yeah maybe it would all be concentrated by the winds, cleaned up, and a done deal, unfortunately that is not the case.

Until the gusher is stopped, by whatever means, there is no end in sight as far as cleanup. We will have oil on the beaches for probably years.

[teasasue]

aww ok I didnt realize that it was still spilling oil, I havent watched the news in a while. Sorry,

[MonCapitan2002]

Would a hurricane actually gather all the oil that has spilled in one place? my concern would be that the hurricane would have the opposite effect and facilitate the spread of the oil. The other big concern with any major hurricane would be the damage to the infrastructure of the area where it makes landfall.

If a powerful enough hurricane were to make landfall in the Gulf Coast, it could cost enough damage to seriously hamper clean up efforts if enough roads are blocked by flooding and debris. Hopefully any hurricanes that form in the near future will avoid the area altogether.

[teasasue]

my thoughts on it was that if the hurricane pulled it all out of the ocean and put it on land that it would make it easier to clean, since it seems to be more difficult to clean out of the water, but since it is still pooring then it really will not help much.

[Adam]

If we don't get some sort of superheroic vigilante with powers based on wind and oil out of this I, for one, will be very disappointed.

Wei, get to work on that, would you? The BP Avenger and his sidekick, Lubricant Lad, are a concept waiting to happen.

[LadyShea]

Clean up is easiest
1. In the water
2. On Sand

Only Alabama and Florida have sandy beaches in this part of the Gulf. Mississippi and Louisiana are almost entirely wetlands and delta and it's almost impossible to clean those up.