Hurricane Ike is hundreds of miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, but high surf is already pounding Port Fourchon Beach.

The beach was wiped out during Hurricane Gustav wiped it out, so leaders are carefully watching Ike, hoping to avoid more damage to the vital oil port.

"The port plays some key role in about 18 percent of the nation's oil supply, that's both domestic and foreign," said Port Fourchon Executive Director Ted Falgout.

Ships measured Gustav's winds at 110 miles per hour, and combined with a seven foot storm surge and there was more damage than expected.

"Man, it tore us up. Man we was not expecting nothing like this," said Rusty Guidry.

Guidry says Gustav almost wiped out K-Mar Supply, a combined hardware, hydraulics and ship supply store. But with customers waiting, he is setting up temporary quarters. "Couple of months and we'll be up and rolling. By the weekend, we'll be rolling out of these containers right here.”

Not only do oil pipelines come in from the Gulf of Mexico through Port Fourchon, the facility also provides supply ships for offshore oil platforms. So while Gustav did minimal damage to port structures, the oilfield shutdown has national economic consequences.

"It appears that about over 90 percent of oil and gas produced domestically in the Gulf of Mexico was shut down for a period of time,” Falgout said. “That’s almost a billion dollars a day."

Port Fourchon resumed limited operations within four days after Gustav, but officials are still waiting for power to be restored. "They're telling us it could be a month, it is that severe,” Falgout said.

Hurricane Ike is adding to the power restoration problems at Port Fourchon. Utility crews were working at one station just two days ago. But the tide is coming up, so they've had to leave. However, Ted Falgout, says Ike has actually helped as they've tried to repair the damage caused by Gustav.

"If we had had to mobilize and turn the oil fields back on immediately after Gustav it would have been very difficult because we were just trying to get our act together, getting things back, getting the roadway clear,” Falgout concluded.

Tents set up to house utility repair crews are now flooding, so officials will watch Ike carefully. It is expected to raise tide two to four feet.