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Hurricane
Lili Research
In October 2002, Hurricane Lili moved through the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds reaching 145 miles per hour and waves
exceeding or matching the 100-year design criteria of the oil and gas
facilities in her path. With intensity reaching a full category four storm
over the warm gulf waters, Lili made landfall on Louisiana shores as a
category one.
A majority of the 4,000 oil and gas
facilities in Federal waters were shut-down forcing
evacuation of more than 25,000
workers. Of the 800 facilities lying in the direct path
of Hurricane Lili, only six platforms (all age 20 years
or greater) experienced substantial damage, two of which
were submerged in place. Of the ninety-nine active
drilling rigs, four experienced substantial damage. No
fatalities, injuries or major pollution events were
reported. A medium sized oil spill of 350-barrels was
reported some 18 miles offshore Louisiana. The lease
operator conducted emergency response to the spill and
recovered an estimated one-third of the oil while the
remainder dispersed due to weathering. In total, there
were nine reported instances of pollution with the
remaining eight being less than 3 barrels each.
The MMS Technology Assessment and
Research (TA&R) Program initiated a program of research
assessment and analysis of the damage to offshore
facilities as a result of Hurricane Lili. Combining
research from Lili with the knowledge gained from a
similar 1992 MMS Hurricane Andrew Research
Program has helped measure and evaluate the ability of
current industry standards and MMS
regulations to mitigate future hurricane impacts
to facilities and environment. Click on a project
number below to link to it's summary report.
For more information, please email Michael Else. Privacy | Disclaimers | Accessibility | Topic Index | FOIA Last Updated: 08/08/2008, 01:29 PM |