( CNN ) -- A predicted busy hurricane season this summer is on a collision course with an unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , and the results are anyone 's guess , weather experts say . `` The problem is that this is a man-made experiment we wish we had n't made , '' said Jenni Evans , a professor of meteorology at Penn State University . Scientists on Thursday said as much as 19,000 barrels of oil have been spewing every day from the BP well in the Gulf , making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history . Most of the oily water lies off the coast of Louisiana , where marshes and wildlife have been coated and the state 's fishing and tourism industries have taken direct hits . Not only is it hard to track how contaminants would be redistributed by a hurricane , but it 's also hard to predict how the slick would affect the storm , NOAA Public Affairs Officer Dennis Feltgen and Evans agreed . Evans said the storm could either move the oil along the water 's surface or it could mix the oil with the water and cause it to sink . If the oil moved horizontally , the shoreline would be polluted , she said . If it moved vertically , the marine life under the surface would suffer . The oil could slow the storm 's growth , Feltgen said . Evaporated ocean water fuels hurricanes , and the oil forming a film across the Gulf could buffer the water from the air , preventing the ocean water from feeding the hurricane , he said . But other scientists say the storms could be stronger than usual because the black oil would heat the water faster and accelerate formation of hurricanes , which rely on warm waters for their development , Evans said . CNN meteorologist Chad Meyers said there was another threat from the volatile mix of hurricanes and oil : storm surge . `` All the winds would be coming here , '' he said , indicating the coast on a map , `` and there would be storm surge here . All the winds would be going this way , and there would be scouring and cleaning of the beaches on this side . But the storm surge that could make its way up and bring the oil miles inland could be completely contaminating the oil inland . '' Oil in the Gulf coast is n't the only worry for hurricane forecasters this year : In earthquake-devastated Haiti , roughly 1.5 million displaced people are at risk . They are living under tarps and in tents in makeshift camps . In Haiti , aid agencies relocated about 20,000 people who were vulnerable to flooding and mudslides when the rainy season began . But it is impossible to hurricane-proof the congested tent cities that many are calling home right now , said Heather Paul , CEO of the aid program SOS Children 's Villages . Paul 's program is working to provide permanent , stable homes to orphans in the form of polypropylene shelters . While her program 's anchored shelters have the greatest potential to withstand strong winds , the outlook appears grim for many Port-Au-Prince residents . `` It 's only short of a miracle to prepare these people for hurricane season , '' she said .
Hurricanes would pile on to problems of oil spill , Haiti quake survivors . Storm surge could force oil from shore miles inland , forecaster says . It 's hard to predict how oil slick would affect a hurricane , experts say . Oil could slow the storm 's growth , or make it stronger .