Francine weakens moving inland from Gulf Coast after hurricane winds cause blackouts
MORGAN CITY, Louisiana — Francine weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday night after hitting Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm crippled more than 275,000 homes and businesses, unleashed a storm surge that battered coastal communities and raised fears of flooding in New Orleans and the surrounding area, while torrential rains swept across the northern Gulf Coast.
The storm was forecast to weaken to a tropical depression on Thursday as it moved northward across Mississippi, the National Hurricane Center said. As much as 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain could fall in parts of Mississippi and neighboring states, meteorologists said, warning of the potential threat of scattered flooding in areas as far away as Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta.
Francine Wednesday night, the Louisiana coast was hit with 100 mph (155 km/h) wind gusts in coastal Terrebonne Parish, battering a vulnerable coastal region that has not yet fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021. The hurricane then moved toward New Orleans at 16 mph (26 km/h), battering the city with torrential rain overnight.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. TV news reports from coastal communities showed waves from nearby lakes, rivers and Gulf waters battering seawalls. Water rushed into city streets amid blinding downpours. Oak and cypress trees leaned in the high winds, and some power poles swayed.
“It’s a little worse than I expected, to be honest,” said Alvin Cockerham, fire chief of Morgan City, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from where the storm’s center made landfall. “I’ve pulled all my trucks back to the station. It’s too dangerous to be out here.”
According to the tracking site poweroutage.us, there were more than 362,546 power outages in Louisiana within hours of landfall. The outages were concentrated in southeastern Louisiana.
Laura Leftwich, who was sheltering with her mother just outside Morgan City, said wind gusts had blown away two large birdhouses outside. She had a generator powering an internet connection so she could video chat with friends, and she held her computer up to a window to show them as water flooded the street.
If the storm had been any more violent, “I wouldn’t have had the courage to look outside,” said Leftwich, 40. “It’s a little scary.”
The sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane seasonFrancine drew fuel from the extremely warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened to a Category 2 storm before making landfall.
In addition to the torrential rain, there was still a threat of aftermath tornadoes from Thursday’s storm.
According to Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center, large parts of Louisiana and Mississippi could see 4 to 8 inches of rain, with some spots seeing 12 inches.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the National Guard would be deployed to parishes affected by Francine. They have food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including possible search and rescue operations.
Since the mid-1800s, some 57 hurricanes have passed through or made landfall in Louisiana, according to The Weather Channel. They include some of the strongest, costliest and deadliest storms in U.S. history.
Morgan City, with a population of about 11,500, is located on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in southern Louisiana and is surrounded by lakes and marshes. The city’s website describes it as “the gateway to the Gulf of Mexico for the shrimp and oilfield industries.”
President Joe Biden has declared a national emergency to help Louisiana secure accelerated federal funding and aid. Landry and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves have also declared states of emergency.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported that more than 100,000 sandbags have been distributed in the southern part of the state, and the Department of Education said that some schools will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
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Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.