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Bob Moon: Tropical Storm Fay is forecast to turn north, reach hurricane strength, and hit Florida later today. The Florida Keys began evacuating tourists yesterday. But the affect on tourism isn’t the only concern. From the Americas Desk at WLRN, Marketplace’s Dan Grech reports.

Dan Grech: Royal Dutch Shell and offshore driller Transocean have removed hundreds of workers from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Energy expert Jorge Pinon with the University of Miami says this is a precaution.

Jorge Pinon: Most of the folks that are first evacuated are maintenance personnel and contractors that are not directly linked with the day to day operations of those production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The energy firms say so far, oil production has not been affected. Pinon says the story would be different if not for a moratorium on offshore drilling that includes the western coastline of Florida.

Pinon: All of the activities in the Gulf Coast are the in Louisiana area, not off the coast of Florida.

The latest forecast has Fay making landfall in the Tampa Bay area Tuesday afternoon.

I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.