Reply #19: Be careful what you wish for. You have no idea of the potential disaster,

[WVhill]

A hurricane with sufficient strength that wipes out NO would have a high probability of changing the course of the Mississippi River. It would be the greatest disaster to hit the US. The studies indicate that all the pipelines would be washed out along with the other devastation. Besides higher gasoline prices, you can expect much higher natural gas and electricity prices especially in the Midwest and Northeast. Going into the winter you'd see an unimaginable amount of long lasting economic damage to this country from the after effects.

FWIW, a lot of our electrical capacity now relies on natural gas supplies. Without the gas fired units, you can count on extensive brownouts and possible electrical outages and grid failures if we have a hot summer the following year. You'd almost certainly see government mandated rationing for some commodities. Keep in mind we're already short refinery capacity in this country. I don't think you'd see a modest gas price increase. I think the potential would be for a multiplier of the current price. Think $3, $4 per gal gas or higher.