In comparison to a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, the recent BP oil spill's impact may last longer and have a broader impact, said a U.S. observer in Chicago on Monday.

Boats are seen clearing up the leaked oil, which was caused by an explosion of a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, on May 5, 2010. [Xinhua]

In an interview with Xinhua, Jim Fox, senior consultant at Royal Roots Global Inc, a Chicago-based management consulting firm, said: "Hurricanes are a constant force of nature. While no one knows where they will strike, that they will strike is a certainty. They arrive, do their damage, and are swiftly gone. Recovery and rebuilding takes place, at varying paces depending upon the location and severity of the storm."

On the other hand, Fox pointed out: "Oil spills are not acts of nature and recovery from them is a far different process."

As an example of contrast, Fox compared the impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska with Hurricane Hugo later that year. He said: "The spill and its aftermath are clearly remembered by many despite the passage of more than 2 decades. In the same year a very severe hurricane, Hugo, struck the southeast coast near Charleston, South Carolina causing enormous damage."

While the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez spill continues to make news from time to time, especially after similar accidents occur, Fox believes that far fewer people in the general population recall the specifics of the hurricane's damage.