Bonnie's threat to gulf eases

Support vessels cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill headed for shore Friday to get out of Bonnie's predicted path toward Louisiana. (Judi Bottoni/Associated Press)

Tropical depression Bonnie is losing force as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

CBC News : July 24, 2010 : Tropical depression Bonnie is losing force Saturday morning as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

That bodes well for efforts to contain the BP oil spill in the Gulf. On Friday, ships and rig workers left the scene of the ruptured undersea oil well before Bonnie arrived.

But in its Saturday morning report, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, "Bonnie could degenerate into an area of low pressure" and "warnings will likely be discontinued later this morning."

Maximum winds had fallen to 50 kilometres an hour.

Bonnie crossed Florida after landing south of Miami on Friday. At 8 a.m. ET Saturday, it was 345 kilometres southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

It is moving at about 32 km/h and is expected to hit Louisiana around midnight Saturday or early Sunday.

There had been fears that a major storm would badly disrupt the efforts to clean up the oil that has spilled from the well.

Bonnie's impact on the massive amount of oil already in the Gulf is unclear, because it might push oil offshore, away from sensitive areas, or drive it onshore.

On Friday, retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen, who's running the response to the spill, said he's confident the cap BP placed on the well will hold.

BP ended efforts to open a relief well on Friday, and ships collecting oil from the cap and fighting the spill headed for port.