More than 4 million in southeast US lose power after Hurricane Helene

HOUSTON (ICIS)–More than 4 million outages were reported in the southeastern US on Friday after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm in northwestern Florida.

The southeastern US does not have a lot of chemical production. But such widespread power outages, in addition to disruptions caused by flooding, will lower demand for plastics and chemicals more broadly.

The power outages are concentrated in the US states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, according to the website poweroutage.us.

Among the few chemical plants near Helene’s landfall site are a crude sulphate turpentine refinery and a crude tall oil (CTO) refinery that Kraton owns in Panama City, Florida. Tall oil is a feedstock fatty acids, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Kraton has not returned requests for comment in regard to its preparations for Helene.

Since Helene made landfall, it has weakened into a tropical storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 45 miles/hour (75 km/hour), according to the National Hurricane Center.

The following map shows its projected path.

Source: National Hurricane Center

PORT CLOSURES
Inbound and outbound traffic at Port Tampa Bay ceased ahead of the storm, and the port’s shipping channels were closed.

Tampa is an important hub for the US fertilizer industry, hosting corporate offices, trading, product storage, shipping and other logistical operations.

Other port closures include Panama City, St Joe, St Petersburg, Manatee and Key West on Florida’s west coast, as well as Fernandina, Jacksonville and Canaveral on Florida’s east coast.

ENERGY DISRUPTIONS
The following table shows the disruptions to US Gulf production that were caused by Helene, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

	Total	% of US Gulf
Oil, bbl/day	441,923	25.25%
Gas, million cubic feet/day	363.39	19.81%

Source: BSEE

	Total	% of US Gulf
Platforms evacuated	27	7.28%
Rigs evacuated	1	20%

Source: BSEE

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for 14% of US production of crude oil and 5% of total dry gas production, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

RAIL DISRUPTIONS
Railroad company CSX planned to close its TRANSFLO terminals in Tampa and Tampa Port on Thursday.

Railroad company Norfolk Southern said that customers with shipments moving through the southeast and mid-Atlantic should prepare for delays.

RECONSTRUCTION AND CHEM DEMAND
Hurricane Helene’s current path could put $5.64 billion worth of housing at risk to storm surge flooding, an insurance data company said on Wednesday.

Nearly 25,000 residential properties in the Tallahassee and Homosassa Springs metropolitan areas are at risk, said CoreLogic.

“Helene has the potential to become a once-in-a-generation storm,” said Jon Porter, chief meteorologist for the meteorology firm AccuWeather. It estimates that most of Florida and much of the southeastern US will be exposed to winds reaching 40-60 miles/hour.

AccuWeather expects that most of Florida and all of the states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are at risk for tornados.

For hurricanes in general, reconstruction can translate to increased demand for many chemicals and polymers.

The white pigment titanium dioxide (TiO2) is used in paints.

Solvents used in paints and coatings include butyl acetate (butac), butyl acrylate (butyl-A), ethyl acetate (etac), glycol ethers, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and isopropanol (IPA).

Blends of aliphatic and aromatic solvents are also used to make paints and coatings.

For polymers, expandable polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane (PU) foam are used in insulation.

Polyurethanes are made of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and polyols.

High density polyethylene (HDPE) is used in pipe. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used to make cladding, window frames, wires and cables, flooring and roofing membranes.

Unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) are used to make coatings and composites.

Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) is used to make paints and adhesives.

Thumbnail shows Helene before it made landfall. Image by National Hurricane Center.