Tropical Storm Karen headed for U.S. Gulf Coast
MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Karen formed in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and was forecast to sweep through U.S. oil installations before hitting the Gulf Coast between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, the National Hurricane Center said.
Energy companies in the Gulf started shutting in production on Thursday and were evacuating some workers from offshore platforms as Karen approached a region that produces nearly a fifth of daily U.S. oil output.
Three days after much of the U.S. government was closed down over a budget standoff, the Federal Emergency Management Agency began recalling furloughed workers to help prepare for the storm.
The storm, the first to threaten the U.S. coast during the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, had top winds of 65 mph and was centered about 430 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
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