Francine’s center moved inland on Thursday after making landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, weakening to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression, leaving behind flooding and wind damage in its path.
The storm will continue to weaken as it tracks across west-central Mississippi into the mid-south on Thursday and Friday. Maximum sustained winds have now dropped to about 35 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service, which noted that the storm is expected to further diminish.
On Thursday morning, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression, with the National Weather Service predicting that it will become a post-tropical cyclone later in the day.
In the New Orleans area, about 6-8 inches of rain fell, according to the National Weather Service, which briefly issued a flash flood emergency warning Wednesday night, highlighting the potential for catastrophic damage and threats to life.
While no additional rainfall was anticipated in Louisiana early Thursday, the region was already grappling with flash flooding, the weather service said. By Thursday morning, heavy rain was moving across Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle, with possible wind gusts expected in the following hours.
A few tornadoes may occur Thursday, particularly in the morning and afternoon, from the Florida Panhandle to north-central Alabama, according to weather officials.
Francine struck the Louisiana coast on Wednesday evening with winds of 100 mph (155 km/h) in Terrebonne Parish, hitting a vulnerable coastal area still recovering from previous hurricanes in 2020 and 2021. The storm then moved quickly toward New Orleans, bringing heavy rainfall to the city.
In Morgan City, firefighters responded to home fires during the hurricane. No immediate reports of deaths or injuries were available, but TV news broadcasts showed waves crashing into sea walls from lakes, rivers, and Gulf waters.
Category 2 Hurricane FrancineFlooding affected city streets amid intense downpours, with oak and cypress trees bending in the strong winds and some utility poles swaying.
“It’s a little bit worse than what I expected, to be honest with you,” said Alvin Cockerham, fire chief of Morgan City, located about 30 miles (50 km) from where the storm made landfall. “I pulled all my trucks back to the station. It’s too dangerous to be out there in this.”
Jonathan Erdman, a senior meteorologist with the Weather Channel, described Wednesday as one of the “top 10 wettest calendar days on record in New Orleans,” marking the wettest day in nearly nine years.
In Lafourche Parish, the sheriff reported that multiple families in the Thibodaux area were rescued from rising water following Hurricane Francine. A total of 26 people were rescued and most were taken to an emergency shelter.
A curfew is in place in Lafourche Parish until 10 a.m. local time, with similar curfews in Terrebonne Parish, where residents were urged to stay indoors and off the roads.
Officials in St. James Parish, located west of New Orleans, reported that several roads and highways were impassable by Thursday morning. They also received reports of downed trees, power lines, flooding, and structural damage late Wednesday.
Louisiana State University held remote classes on Wednesday and Thursday, as the campus remained closed due to Francine’s impact.
Power outages affected more than 390,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana by early Thursday, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. Additionally, over 62,000 outages were reported in Mississippi and more than 10,000 in Alabama.
In some regions, such as Jefferson Parish in Greater New Orleans, residents were advised to conserve water due to sewage concerns.
As of Thursday morning, storm surge warnings were in effect for areas near the mouth of the Pearl River to the Mississippi-Alabama border, as well as Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana.