国际英语新闻：Storm Alex may hinder spill cleanup efforts

BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhuanet)-- Tropical Storm Alex, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, is likely to pose a threat to the slow effort to contain and clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, media reported on Sunday.

Meteorologists say Alex, which is pounding the western Caribbean with rain and high winds, is not expected to hit the oil well.

But officials are watching closely anyway, "We all know the weather is uNPRedictable and we could have a sudden, last-minute change," U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said.

A supply vessel passes through oil floating near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana on May 31.

If a storm with gale-force winds, 39 miles per hour or stronger, was expected within five days of reaching the leak site, then BP would have to evacuate the vessels and personnel working to contain the spill, according to Allen, who is coordinating the U.S. oil spill response.

A full evacuation, which could stop containment activities for two weeks, would force BP to disconnect the ships from the containment cap now funneling half or more of the leaking oil to tankers waiting above the well a mile below the surface.

Between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day are leaking from the gushing well, official estimates suggested.