U.S. Gulf Coast braces for Alberto’s wrath

Storm could cause US$1B in economic losses

BOSTON• Slowly strengthening subtropical storm Alberto could cause more than US$1 billion in economic losses to the U.S. Gulf Coast as it tracks north, bringing a growing threat of floods, but it has had little effect on offshore energy production.

Alberto’s top winds rose to 80 kilometres per hour early Sunday, up from 64 earlier, the National Hurricane Center said, and were forecast to reach about 100 km/h by late Sunday. It was expected to be over land in the Florida Panhandle by early Monday. A storm’s winds need to reach 118 km/h to be called a hurricane.

Governors in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama Saturday declared states of emergency.

“The main concern from Alberto is flooding; not so much along the immediate coast, but inland from the heavy rains that are coming on top of over a week of rain across the southeast,” said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research in Savannah, Ga. “A secondary concern is that even relatively minimal tropical storm winds can topple trees due to saturated soils and water heavy limbs.”

Last week, another pulse of tropical moisture that didn’t rise to the level of a storm soaked the South.

Alberto could cause US$400 million to US$500 million worth of damage across the South, including damage to cars crushed by toppled trees, wrecked roofs and flooding, Watson said in an interview.

On top of that, there could be as much as US$600 million in lost holiday spending as Alberto puts a damper on plans during the Memorial Day three-day weekend.

There’s a chance Alberto could come ashore early Monday, said Dan Pydynowski, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pa.

Flood and flash-flood watches are spread across Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where 10 to 18 centimetres of rain could fall through early next week, while South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee expected to be hit by Alberto’s remnants, the National Weather Service said.

Alberto’s moisture could push all the way to Canada in coming days, Pydynowski said.

On Friday, Exxon Mobil Corp. pulled non-essential personnel from its Lena oil production platform and Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut in its Ram Powell hub, but most other energy companies are leaving offshore crews in place while they watch 2018’s first Atlantic storm.