* Forecast track keeps storm in eastern Atlantic * No danger to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas rigs(Updates to hurricane strength, position) MIAMI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Fred strengthened into a hurricane over the eastern Atlantic on Tuesday but was forecast to steer clear of any land, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Fred had top winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) and was located west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa. The second hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season, Fred is a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. It was expected to turn northwest and then north, keeping thousands of miles (km) east of the U.S. East Coast. The five-day forecast track issued by the National Hurricane Center would keep it in the eastern Atlantic, far from from the Gulf of Mexico, where U.S. oil and gas operations are clustered. Energy traders keep a close eye on storms that could enter the Gulf and disrupt offshore production or refinery operations along the coast. By 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), the storm was located about 445 miles (715 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and was moving to the west-northwest at about 12 mph (19 kph), forecasters said. "Additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so, followed by a slow weakening beginning on Thursday," the hurricane center said. Hurricanes draw energy from warm water, so cooler sea surface temperatures can weaken them, while wind shear -- a difference in wind speeds at different altitudes -- can inhibit their growth or tear them apart. Commodities traders also watch for storms that could damage citrus, cotton and other crops in southern U.S. states. Pricing of insurance-linked securities, which transfer insurance risks associated with natural disasters to capital market investors and can be used to hedge other weather risk exposures, can also be affected by the path of a storm. With the peak of the hurricane season two days away, the Atlantic-Caribbean basin has seen five tropical storms and one other hurricane with little damage. (Reporting by Jim Loney, editing by Alan Elsner) (For additional news on the insurance-linked securities market, go to http://communities.thomsonreuters.com/ILS)
Residents clean up their home after heavy rains flooded a neighborhood in Mexico City September 7, 2009. REUTERS/Henry Romero (MEXICO DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) ...
