According to a Guy Carpenter Instrat report, Ike is currentlyexpected to regain major hurricane strength as it moves through theGulf of Mexico and heads towards the Texas coastline. Forecasterssay Ike could make landfall near Port O'Connor in Texas onSaturday. However, long term forecasts are subject to change andIke could come ashore anywhere from northern Mexico to westernLouisiana with likely landfall along the Texas coast betweenGalveston and Brownsville as a major hurricane, forecasters said.The possibility of such a scenario prompted officials Texas toprepare for what may be the third major storm to affect the GulfCoast region in less than a month.

Ike is currently a category 1 hurricane and has maintained itsstrength over the past 24 hours whilst moving over western Cuba.Ike has now moved into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and remainsa well organized storm despite tracking over western Cuba.Environmental conditions are conductive for re-strengthening in theGulf, where 25% of US oil and 15% of its natural gas is produced.Forecasters said Ike's current forecast path would likely see thestorm move to the southwest of the biggest concentration ofplatforms in the Gulf but some operations have shut down productionand evacuated personnel. Gulf of Mexico oil production remains lowin the wake of Hurricane Gustav and the US Minerals ManagementService said about 78% of oil production and some 65% of thenatural gas produced in the Gulf was shut as 9 September due toGustav and Ike.

A report from Risk Management Services says that Ike has alreadywreaked havoc on a popular Caribbean tourist destination.

“While it is too early to gauge the full extent and severity ofdamage on the islands, initial reports indicate that many homes onGrand Turk have lost roofs and some houses are reported to havecollapsed. Early indications are that 80 percent of homes on GrandTurk have sustained some degree of damage. A similar situationseems to be the case for the South Caicos whilst the North Caicosand Providenciales are without power and subject to very strongwinds and heavy rains,” says RMS.

For Guy Carpenter's complete report, click here.