Tropical storm Alex sends 4- to 6-foot swells crashing onto the coastline in Port Fourchon, La. The high surf is hindering oil spill cleanup efforts. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Cleanup crews donning protective uniforms remove oil-soaked sand from a Port Fourchon beach. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Waves of oil splash over sandbags positioned to keep the crude off the beach. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Beach operations manager John Hogan uses a bullhorn to get a message out to the crew in Grand Isle, La., whose work was delayed because of lightning. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Workers shovel sand into large plastic bags in Grand Isle. More than 1,500 workers have been hired to clean up beaches here and in surrounding areas. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Kathy Flannigan, 53, is part of the cleanup crew in Grand Isle. She and others wait out the storm inside a tent. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Tiger dams, inflated with water, line the beaches on Grand Isle, where workers pick up their tools at the end of a shift. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
