The full damage wreaked by Hurricane Harvey won’t be totaled up for days if not weeks, but thankfully the destruction so far has resulted in relatively few fatalities. The impact on energy infrastructure, though, is a different story. The storm hit southeast Texas, a major hub of the U.S. petroleum and natural gas industries. It stands as further evidence that the centralized model for fuel production and transportation is out-of-date, leaving the U.S. exposed to economic disruption and threats to national security. In the age of climate change, a more nimble and flexible approach is needed.
Analysts predict massive energy infrastructure disruption
Part of the disruption was preventive rather than a direct result of storm damage. When Hurricane Harvey grew from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane, energy watchers were all in agreement: This one was going to be bad.
Petroleum and gas stakeholders began ratcheting down operations well in advance of landfall. In addition to offshore and coastal operations, some inland drillers also halted. Aside from any direct impacts, inland operators were concerned that transportation would be disrupted.
Continue reading at ENN affiliate Triple Pundit.
Image: On August 25, 2017, NASA astronaut Jack Fischer photographed Hurricane Harvey from the cupola module aboard the International Space Station as it intensified on its way toward the Texas coast. The Expedition 52 crew on the station has been tracking this storm for the past two days and capturing Earth observation photographs and videos from their vantage point in low Earth orbit. Image Credit: NASA