美国新冠疫情日记08/30

颶风再次袭击墨西哥湾

依达颶风週日下午挟着强大风力推进墨西哥湾，扑向新纽奥良及密西西比河沿岸， 这个风速一百五十英里定為四级风力的颶风， 正值十六年前发生的卡翠娜颶风同一时期， 当时有一千八百人丧生， 当时曾掀起二十四呎之大浪， 而依达颶风只有当年的一半， 事实上暴风圈范围也只有一半。

依达颶风目前已经造成墨西哥湾石油生產之巨大损失， 其中百分之九十五已经关闭， 该水域内的六大石油公司表示 ，依达颶风侵袭之范围正是海上石油最重要的產油地带， 由於颶风之影响 势必导致油价之上扬。

目前在新纽奥良及大部分地区已经变得漆黑一片， 气象专家们十分担心的是海水倒灌， 造成人员及房屋之重大伤亡， 有关单位已经发佈可能有龙捲风来袭 ，真正灾情之评估 正在进行之中。

拜登总统已经下令动员联邦救灾单位， 全面戒备， 来应对可能之灾难。

当年卡翠娜颶风之惨状， 我们都还记忆犹新， 数十万人潮奔向休斯敦求救， 我们真不希望悲剧重演。

对拜登政府而言， 真是祸不单行 ，阿富汗机场丧生的十三名美国子弟刚送回国， 这场颶风又接踵而至， 如何处理海内外之危机 ，真是要考验总统的智慧和能力了。

Ida Made Landfall On The 16th Anniversary Of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Ida made landfall on the Gulf Coast Sunday at 12:55 p.m. as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane with top winds of 150 miles per hour. This is the date of the 16th anniversary of the historically devastating Hurricane Katrina.

Ida was downgraded to a Category 3 storm on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. It was close, but the storm missed New Orleans by about 25 miles west by southwest of the area. More than 700,000 customers were without power as Ida continued to pound the coastal state.

After Ida hit the New Orleans area Sunday causing massive disruption to U.S. oil production, more than 95% of the oil production facilities have been shut down. It will have a significant impact on the nation’s energy supply. It could also impact fuel from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast market.

President Biden has spoken to the governors of the states in the Gulf of Mexico region and he said at a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that, “We’re providing food, water, generators and other supplies to the area. FEMA already has deployed 500 emergency response personnel to both Texas and Louisiana.”

This is a very critical time for the Biden Administration with the unfolding of Afghanistan and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Hurricane Ida could be another big domestic problem for President Biden.

We still remember sixteen years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Hundreds of thousands of people came to Houston to seek shelter.

We all hope this will not happen again.