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New Orleans Empties as Gustav Closes In
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Major oil companies have been evacuating thousands of personnel from their drilling and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for days. Shell, for example, has evacuated all 1,400 of its workers, shuttling helicopters back and forth to platforms as far as two hours from shore, company spokesman Shaun Wiggins said Saturday night.
The gulf accounts for 26 percent of U.S. oil production and 12 percent of U.S. natural gas production, according to the Energy Department. There were 37 deep-water rigs drilling there earlier this month.
Shell said that its gasoline stations all along the coast were seeing a spike in demand as motorists tried to hoard fuel in case the hurricane disrupted refineries, roads and pipelines.
The company said that approximately 10 percent of the Shell-branded stations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and surrounding areas had run out of fuel by Saturday morning. Disruptions elsewhere were "minimal," the company said.
Oil companies said that vehicle traffic due to the evacuation was already causing delays in tanker deliveries to the area.
Oil refineries also were keeping close watch on the storm. Valero, which has seven refineries along the Gulf coast, said last night that it had begun to shut down its refinery in St. Charles, La., and that its Texas refineries at Port Arthur, Texas City and Houston were operating yesterday at reduced rates.
Nagin said between 1,500 and 2,000 National Guard members are on hand and will "lock down" the city once it is evacuated. He said that there are 300 more New Orleans police officers on call than there were during Katrina, but that the city is being more sensitive to those who may be overstressed from dealing with Katrina and cannot work overtime.
Paulison urged all residents to heed evacuation warnings.
"There is no reason for anyone in the city of New Orleans to ride out this storm. It is simply too dangerous," he said. "We're going to be dealing with a very, very serious storm."
But instead of preparing to hit the road, Vanessa Mitchell, 49, was at a grocery store, stocking up on food, water and ice. Mitchell had a rental car and an urge to leave, but she was overruled by her fiancé and 25-year-old son.
"I wanted to go, but my family just doesn't want to do it," she said. "Last time, for Katrina, it took us 22 hours to get to Dallas. I guess that was just too much stress. So we're going to stay and hope for the best. We've got a generator, candles, food, everything we need."
Nevertheless, Mitchell said doubts continued to creep into her mind, especially after talking to friends and neighbors on their way out of town.
"Every time I talk to people, there's a big debate about whether to stay or go," Mitchell said. "It's so emotional after what happened last time."
Hsu reported from Washington. Staff writers Steven Mufson in Washington, Jacqueline L. Salmon in New Orleans and correspondent Mike Perlstein in New Orleans contributed to this report.
