Update: Katrina may be our "Asian Tsunami." One other point: we need to stop destroying the Louisiana wetland which serves as a buffer. More on that here.

"While the many are concerned with how the hurricane will effect the price and production the oil and gas - we are also concerned about the people and the precious habitat that could be destroyed as Hurricane Katrina makes land fall." said Sidney Coffee, Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities. "The country depends on the resources provided by coastal Louisiana - the cargo and shipping industries, and the millions of barrels of oil and gas that flow through the terminals and pipelines found throughout America's WETLAND," continued Coffee "A direct hit from a storm like Hurricane Katrina could be devastating, and this danger is increased by the continued loss of our wetlands."

Katrina will cut oil production in the gulf coast of Mexico area by one-third.

U.S. energy companies said U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude oil output was cut by more than one-third on Saturday as Hurricane Katrina appeared poised to charge through central production areas toward New Orleans. The Gulf of Mexico is home to roughly a quarter of U.S. domestic oil and gas output, with a capacity to produce about 1.5 million barrels per day of crude and 12.3 billion cubic feet per day of gas.

Accuweather says where Katrina crosses the coast, it will resemble a war zone: