Ready for the storm
As Cindy approached, energy workers, builders and ship pilots were making their preparations
B UILDERS and contractors on Wednesday tied down loose ends — literally — and many sent workers home ahead of the possible overnight arrival of Tropical Storm Cindy. Similar scenes unfolded on some offshore oil rigs in the path of the disturbance.
Although forecasts called for the worst impact to be felt far from Houston, local industry remains vigilant to dodge the damage incurred during infamous episodes of inclement weather.
“We learned a lot from Rita and Ike,” said Kim Mason, director of safety services at the Associated General Contractors of Houston. “We learned to never underestimate how high the water will get. We lost a lot of computers, a lot of electronics. We had a lot of equipment float away, including trailers.”
That’s why, Mason said, every contractor and builder in Houston has a checklist of storm-preparation protocols that should have been fully checked off
by the end of Wednesday.
Mike Dishberger, owner of Sandcastle Homes and a former president of the Greater Houston Builders Association, said he held a staff meeting Monday to run through the steps for battening down the hatches at work sites.
“Work slows down to a crawl,” he said. “We pretty much spend the day picking up debris. That’s pretty much what we’re doing today.”
Crews scour the ground for small objects that could “act like missiles” in tropical storm-force winds, he said, then they empty dumpsters and tack plywood onto any home frames that might need structural support in the storm.
On the day of the storm, most workers won’t show up for work, he said.
At larger commercial construction sites, preparations can be more complex. Crews strap down the trailer offices where plans are housed so they don’t float away. They relocate computers and heavy equipment and fuel tanks, then hang plywood on the project wherever necessary.
Nonessential personnel are dismissed to weather the storm. In extreme cases, said Mason of the AGC, generator trucks may be sent to the homes of essential personnel so they can do essential computer work during the storm.
In other cases, Mason said, the biggest local builders may fly in out-ofstate work crews that can tend to the work site while the local laborers are at home with their families during the storm.
In the Gulf of Mexico, oil rig operators reported pulling workers off 40 oil and gas production platforms, or about 5 percent of the more than 700 manned platforms in the Gulf, and one drilling rig of the 15 there.
Workers, as they evacuate, close safety valves under the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas should the storm damage well piping.
The bureau estimated Wednesday that companies shut in about 17 percent of oil production in the Gulf and less than 1 percent of gas.
BP evacuated nonessential personnel from its Mad Dog and Atlantis platforms. Workers operating production equipment, however, remained on the platforms, which are built to withstand 100-year hurricanes. BP, like others, said its severe weather assessment team was in “constant communication with our offshore teams.”
“Our top priority is the safety of all personnel and protecting the environment,” BP said. “We remain prepared to respond as conditions warrant.”
Along the Houston Ship Channel, officials took precautionary measures to protect facilities and industry there but said they weren’t overly concerned.
“It is just far enough to the east of us here in Houston that Coast Guard measures to close the port were not warranted,” said Steve Nerheim, director of the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services for Houston and Galveston.
Capt. Robert Shearon, presiding officer for the Houston Pilots, who guide ships in and out of the Ship Channel, is monitoring the situation and keeping in contact with others along the waterway.
He said that, as the weather started to deteriorate, pilots would not board some of the smaller and lighter vessels.
Pilots stopped all boarding ships around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Winds are predicted to be less than 40 knots by noon Thursday, Shearon said, and he hopes things will return to normal by Thursday afternoon.
“This is an early wakeup call for what we might expect this season,” he said.