Workers at BP oil spill site get ready for evacuation
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Workers on ships at the site of the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill are making final preparations to leave as stormy weather nears.
But incident commander Adm Thad Allen has allowed the damaged well to remain capped while the site is evacuated.
Ships
running the remote-operated vehicles monitoring the sea bed for signs
of problems will be the last to leave the site and the first to return.
Relief well work has been suspended for at least 10-12 days, BP says.
"The
seismic survey vessels, the acoustic vessels and the vessels operating
the ROVs will stay as long as possible," said Adm Allen. "And if
conditions allow it, they will remain through the passage of the storm."
Tropical Storm Bonnie, the second named storm of the 2010 Atlantic
hurricane season, may strengthen after weakening to a tropical
depression while crossing southern Florida early Friday, says the US
National Hurricane Center.
The storm was reclassified by the centre after winds dropped to about 35mph (56kph).
"Bonnie could regain tropical storm strength as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico," the National Hurricane Center said.
The
centre said the middle of the storm had reached the eastern Gulf at
2000 local time (0000 GMT) and was moving west-northwest at 18mph
(29kph).
The storm is expected to arrive at the spill site on Saturday afternoon.
There
have been no reports of significant damage within the US, and
forecasters say there is little chance Bonnie could become a hurricane
before making landfall again at some point late on Sunday.
The storm has already caused flooding in Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.