Hurricane Irene was roughly 265 miles (425km) south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as of 1700 hours east coast time (2100 hours GMT) and was making its way toward the US east coast on Friday at 14 miles/hour (22 km/hour), according to the US National Hurricane Center.
It had maximum sustained winds of about 100 miles/hour, with higher gusts, making it a Category 2 hurricane. A hurricane warning was issued from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
The storm is projected to hit North Carolina on Saturday, and may weaken further as it moves up the eastern seaboard, the centre said.
Many states had already declared emergencies ahead of the hurricane. The storm has already caused $300m-600m (€10m-420m) in damage in the Caribbean, according to EQECAT, a catastrophe risk modelling and consulting firm.
Weather forecasters warned of a storm surge that could raise water levels by as much as 6-11 feet above ground level in the parts of North Carolina. Rainfall could cause widespread flooding in the mid-Atlantic states.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said while most facilities did not incur major structural damage and were operational within days after storms like hurricanes Katrina and Ike, many were unable to resume normal production because of external consequences of the storms.
“Extensive damage to the local infrastructure blocked the flow of key supplies, like electricity and natural gas, necessary to manufacture chemicals, while damaged roads and rail lines prevented the delivery of products to consumers,” the ACC said.
“Ultimately, this led to higher natural gas costs for everyone and curtailed the delivery of chemicals essential to producing important everyday items like clean drinking water and life-saving medicines,” the group added.
The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) said their members also have comprehensive disaster preparation plans in place.
A SOCMA member from Florida said it routinely reviews and revises those plans.
“More specifically, we have a five-day hurricane preparedness program that is implemented each time a hurricane becomes a threat to our general area,” the member said. “This plan is reviewed each year before the [hurricane] season officially starts.”
Meanwhile, companies with interests in the storm’s potential path have moved to secure the safety of their employees and operations.
US producer DuPont has 19 manufacturing sites, offices and research locations in Irene’s path.
“The company follows a strict, documented planning process that details the critical steps to prepare for a storm such as this,” said spokeswoman Tara Stewart.
“In advance of the storm, each site is implementing its hurricane preparedness plan to secure operations,” she added.
A broker who distributes ConocoPhillips polypropylene (PP) said the company indicated that as of Thursday it had no plans to shut down because of the hurricane.
But given the current forecast, the distributor said it was likely both ConocoPhillips and Braskem would go ahead and shut down, but he said he did not anticipate any major reaction in the market.
The distributor said ConocoPhillips was shipping some orders out early on Friday just to get the material out ahead of the storm.
In Massachusetts, INEOS Styrenics had contingency plans to take its Springfield plant down for 2-3 days, according to a polystyrene source.
Additional reporting by Al Greenwood and Michelle Klump
($1 = €.70)
