By Michael O'Boyle
Cancun, Mexico - Hurricane Ida roared into the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, where important oil fields are located, after killing 91 people and leaving at least another 60 missing in floods and mudslides in El Salvador.
Ida swept past the Mexican resort of Cancun, doing little damage to the city, and is expected to weaken gradually on Monday as it heads toward some of the oil and gas production facilities in the central Gulf, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
The storm reached hurricane force again late on Saturday and strengthened to a Category 2 storm on Sunday with sustained winds of near 165kph, the Miami-based hurricane centre said in its 4pm EST (21.00GMT) advisory.
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Some energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico were evacuating workers from offshore platforms and BP Plc said it had shut down an undisclosed amount of oil and gas production as a precautionary measure.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the only terminal in the United States capable of handling the largest tankers, said it would stop unloading ships due to stormy seas.
A quarter of US oil and 15 percent of its natural gas are produced from fields in the Gulf and the coast is home to 40 percent of the nation's refining capacity.
The hurricane centre set a hurricane watch from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to Mexico Beach in northwestern Florida, but did not include the city of New Orleans. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are expected in the area within 36 hours.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Sunday, allowing the government to mobilise troops and rescue workers.
If Ida makes landfall in Louisiana it would be the first storm to strike the state since Hurricane Gustav came ashore in September 2008.
In El Salvador, rivers burst their banks and hillsides collapsed under relentless rains triggered by Ida's passage, cutting off parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the country.
El Salvador's government said 91 people were killed and at least 60 were missing as a result of deadly mudslides and floods.
As of 7pm EST (00.00GMT), Ida was 720 km south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi river, the hurricane centre said. It was moving north-northwest near 19 kph and was forecast to turn toward the north over the next two days.
About 1 000 people were evacuated from Mexico's Holbox Island, an isolated fishing community and sanctuary for thousands of flamingos and other exotic birds located northwest of Cancun.
Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, where heavy rains forced more than 5 000 people into shelters.
The country's coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council. - Reuters
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