CNN Student News

FancyEnglish                 Vulnerable Point               回新闻首页

June 3, 2008
   

(CNN Student News) -- June 3, 2008 Quick Guide Vulnerable Point - Visit a port in Louisiana that's crucial to the country's fuel supply. MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Our last week of the school year keeps rolling on, and we're glad to have you along for the ride as we pull in to Tuesday. Hi, everyone. I'm Monica Lloyd. First Up: Vulnerable Point LLOYD: First up today: hurricanes. The beginning of June marks the official start of the Atlantic storm season, but the weather isn't paying attention to the calendar. The first named storm of the year, Arthur, formed on May 31st. It didn't strengthen into a full hurricane, but it did make landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th, and experts are predicting an active season. They're expecting up to 16 named storms and up to 5 major hurricanes. Despite those predictions, a new study shows that people aren't prepared enough for the storms. Fifty percent of the residents who were surveyed didn't have a disaster plan in place. Officials in one Louisiana port are trying to avoid being in that situation. Because as Sean Callebs explains, if they get hit by severe weather, it could impact the entire country. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN CALLEBS, CNN REPORTER: Port Fourchon is perhaps the most vital, yet vulnerable link in our nation's energy supply that you have never heard of. A bustling hub far down on Louisiana's coast that supports the offshore oil industry, nearly 20 percent of all the oil used in the United States -- one-fifth of our gasoline supply -- depends on this port being up and running. TED FALGOUT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT FOURCHON: Whether it's the farmer in Idaho or the cattleman in Montana, they require energy. And this facility is key to a huge amount of this country's energy supply. CALLEBS: In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hammered this port. Widespread flooding led to a massive shutdown and an instant spike in fuel prices; and so critically important to the economy that National Guard troops were summoned to protect the area. DAVIE BREAUX, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, GREATER LAFOURCHE PORT COMMISSION: And the hardest thing was clearing the debris off the roadway. The road gets taken over by water and debris builds up on the roadways. CALLEBS: Now that we are in hurricane season again, it's time for the Port Authority to hold its breath. You think you're paying a lot for gas now? FALGOUT: If this port is rendered inoperable, we will see a huge inefficiency in our ability to bring in oil and gas. CALLEBS: Another Katrina or Rita could instantly raise prices at the pump 10-15 percent, according to Fourchon officials. The weakest link along the coast: the 17-mile stretch of highway that cuts through marshlands to the port. 1,200 trucks a day rumble through here, carting supplies to the 15,000 offshore workers in the Gulf. CALLEBS: Are there nights it keeps you awake, knowing if this happens, boy, people don't realize how punishing it's going to be for the economy? FALGOUT: What I think scares me the most, is the "ounce of protection and the pound of cure" thing. CALLEBS: Fourchon is getting a new elevated highway, but it won't be complete until 2011. But even that will only cover a portion of the 17-mile stretch. Port Fourchon is begging the federal government to step in and help. Everyone here remembers what happened a couple of hours to the north. FALGOUT: We professed that the levees in New Orleans and other areas needed to be done, and we did nothing until the catastrophe hit. Then we paid ten times more to get it fixed. I see that happening here. CALLEBS: And when you're below sea level, it's amazing how shallow the words "I told you so" sound. Sean Callebs, CNN, Port Fourchon, Louisiana. (END VIDEO CLIP)