Chevron evacuates Gulf before Rita hits

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chevron Corp. has started to evacuate U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore personnel before Tropical Storm Rita hits, the company said Monday.

“We are evacuating people now,” said a spokesman in Houston.
Chevron Research said it was doing nothing different than its normal standard operating procedure, no different than what it did before Hurricane Katrina churned through the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron has its own helicopter fleet that was protected and unharmed in the destruction caused by the ferocious Katrina.

The company will continue to produce oil and natural gas while it can ahead of the storm, it said.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/19/news/fortune500/chevron_rita.reut/