Gulf oil spill a slow-motion hurricane

Timing of landfall could be key to damage

In a part of the world accustomed to the annual ritual of hurricane season, anticipating the landfall of oil from the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that sank in the Gulf of Mexico April 22 has an eerie familiarity.

SLOW-MOTION HURRICANE This satellite image shows the oil slick (in red box) stemming from a seafloor leak some 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana.