NAGUA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ? Hurricane Irene stormed off the Dominican Republic?s northern coast earlier this week, gathering force as it heads toward the U.S. Southeast by the end of the week, the Associated Press reports.
As of late Monday, Irene was a Category 2 hurricane and the U.S. National Hurricane Centre in Miami said it could become a Category 4 storm by late Thursday.
"We didn't anticipate it gaining this much strength this early," said center meteorologist Chris Landsea.
Forecasters predicted the storm would land in Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina. As a result, residents were urged to ensure they had batteries, food, water, and emergency supplies.
"We must prepare for the worst and hope for the best," said Joe Martinez, chairperson of the Miami-Dade County Commission.
NACS Hurricane Resource
NACS recently added a Hurricanes and Retail Fuel Prices primer to its Annual Fuels Report to explain why a Gulf Coast storm can have far-reaching effects on the retail fuel market. The document helps explain how the market works as well as the importance of the region to the fuels market in general:
- 44 percent of U.S. imports enter the country via the Gulf Coast.
- 29 percent of domestic oil is produced in the Gulf Coast.
- 42 percent of the U.S. refining capacity is located in the Gulf Coast.
- 11 percent of the finished motor fuels in the United States are distributed from this region to other parts of the country.
The primer also explains the low margin nature of the fuel retailing industry and the relationship between wholesale and retail prices. And finally, it presents a short summary of the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the fuels market in 2005.
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