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Francine was downgraded to a tropical storm late Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/120247.shtml" target=_blank>an update</a> at 10 p.m. local time, after first making landfall on the coast of Terrebonne Parish, La., as a Category 2 hurricane and then battering parts of the state with high winds and torrential rains as a Category 1 storm. Now, “rapid weakening is forecast,” the center said, noting that the storm is expected to move more slowly in a north-northeast direction over the next several days and become a tropical depression by late Thursday.

Francine has been downgraded to a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said in an <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/120247.shtml" target=_blank>update </a>at 10 p.m. local time Wednesday evening, just hours after the storm barreled into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane and later triggered warnings of catastrophic flash flood damage around New Orleans.

Francine had made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, La., Wednesday afternoon, bringing 100 mph winds and leaving more than more than 91 percent of customers in the area without power. As of 11 p.m., about 15 percent of Louisiana was without power, according to the tracking site <a href="https://poweroutage.us/area/state/louisiana" target=_blank>PowerOutage.us</a>.

The storm had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane as it moved inland, but it unleashed torrential rains and high winds as it plowed through New Orleans, prompting the National Weather Service to announce a flash flood emergency and warn of “a life-threatening situation” as water overtook streets and underpasses.

Maximum sustained winds are now nearing 70 mph and “rapid weakening is forecast,” the NHC said, though several storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in place in the region. The storm is expected to become a tropical depression by late Thursday.

Despite Francine’s weakening state, the NWS in New Orleans urged locals to continue to take caution <a href="https://x.com/NWSNewOrleans/status/1834066851313398076" target=_blank>in a social media</a> post late Wednesday.

“Please do not underestimate the impacts” of the storm, it wrote, noting that “heavy rainfall causing widespread flooding, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are still occurring.”

“Continue to stay put and shelter in place,” it added.

Kelsey Ables

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans <a href="https://x.com/SWBNewOrleans/status/1834042724929909187" target=_blank>said</a> power outages and other issues are affecting several sewage pump stations. It urged the public to conserve water to prevent sewer overflows, and asked that residents avoid flushing toilets or running major appliances and advised that they take shorter showers.

The National Weather Service <a href="https://x.com/NWSNewOrleans/status/1834045061862228419" target=_blank>issued</a> a flash flood emergency for areas including New Orleans, Kenner, La., and Metairie, urging the public to seek higher ground and warning of a “life-threatening situation” as Hurricane Francine barreled through the region with torrential rain.

“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” a bulletin from the National Weather Service in New Orleans <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=LAZ077&warncounty=LAC071&firewxzone=LAZ077&local_place1=3%20Miles%20NNW%20Gretna%20LA&product1=Flash+Flood+Warning&lat=29.9518&lon=-90.0746" target=_blank>stated</a> Wednesday night. It described the flash flood damage threat as “catastrophic” and warned of “life-threatening flash flooding of low water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.”

The emergency is in effect until at least 11:45 p.m. local time, and more than 700,000 people could be exposed, the Weather Service said.

On live television, local NBC affiliate WDSU captured footage of a man using a hammer to rescue a stranger from a flooded pickup truck that was almost completely submerged underwater amid heavy rain.

“This is just compelling, amazing and maddening at the same time,” Collin Arnold, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said in a live interview with WDSU as he watched the footage. “Please do not drive in flooded streets. Please, we’re begging people just to stay inside. … We pretty much took the most direct hit possible from this storm.”

In a social media post, the station <a href="https://x.com/wdsu/status/1834046821238235365" target=_blank>urged</a> those in the region: “We cannot stress this enough. STAY OFF THE ROADS.”

David Bernard, a former broadcast meteorologist in New Orleans, <a href="https://x.com/DavidBernardTV/status/1834046086840816032" target=_blank>wrote on social media</a> that “one of the most significant floods in years is taking place across the New Orleans metropolitan area tonight.”

“We don’t even know the extent of it because of the poor conditions,” he added.

A model simulation of Francine at 8 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday. (WeatherBell)

The core of Hurricane Francine is plowing through New Orleans, unleashing torrential rain and potentially damaging wind gusts. At 7 p.m. Central time, weather radar showed the Big Easy on the northeastern periphery of the Francine’s eyewall, or ring of violent storms around the storm’s relatively calm center.

“Conditions are quickly getting worse in the NOLA Metro as the strongest winds and heaviest rain approach,” the National Weather Service tweeted at 6:50 p.m. local time. “We are getting consistent gusts of 55-65MPH across the metro and higher to the southwest. Flooding also likely. Shelter in place and stay away from windows!”

The city is under a <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=LAZ077&warncounty=LAC071&firewxzone=LAZ077&local_place1=3%20Miles%20NNW%20Gretna%20LA&product1=Flash+Flood+Warning&lat=29.9518&lon=-90.0746" target=_blank>flash flood warning</a> until 9:30 p.m. “Between 1 and 2 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly,” the Weather Service wrote.

The worst conditions in New Orleans should continue for several hours before both the wind and rain begin to ease after midnight.

Jason Samenow

Storm chasers across Louisiana have taken to social media to share the first signs of the damage resulting from Hurricane Francine’s strong winds and heavy rain.

In Dulac in Terrebonne Parish, where Francine made landfall, Aaron Rigsby <a href="https://x.com/AaronRigsbyOSC/status/1833996743773438000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1833996743773438000%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc" target=_blank>captured</a> a photo of what appears to be a fallen warehouse wall. The street surrounding it looks as if it was swallowed by a river.

Also in Dulac, The Washington Post’s Matthew Cappucci recorded three ships that collided and were drifting down the river.

In Houma, the largest city in the parish, Brad Arnold <a href="https://x.com/BradArnoldWX/status/1833995327214424290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1833995327214424290%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc" target=_blank>wrote on X</a> that a church’s roof had been “ripped off and is laying across power lines.”

And in Morgan City in St. Mary Parish, the account of a Houston-based storm chaser <a href="https://x.com/StormChaserHTX/status/1833997951233839148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1833997951233839148%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc" target=_blank>shared</a> a video featuring pieces of a house’s roof getting ripped away by the wind as if they were paper.

María Luisa Paúl

HOUMA, La. — Bryce Belanger spent Wednesday morning arranging bumpers on the side of his boat, hoping to prevent it from slamming onto dock pilings as Hurricane Francine comes roaring through.

“A lot of us still have PTSD from Ida,” he said. “I’m 40 years old, and it was the worst thing I’ve ever been through.”

Belanger recalled waking up just before that storm hit in 2021 to discover it had rapidly intensified overnight. At that moment, he felt like he had signed a death sentence for himself and his family, he said.

After Ida, Belanger swore he would never stay for a major storm again.

Three years later, despite these difficult memories, Belanger could not maintain his vow to evacuate, he said, instead planning to again shelter in place at his Montegut home.

“The economy is so bad, you just don’t have the extra money to leave,” he explained.

And there is another reason Belanger said he feels stuck: Louisiana’s insurance crisis. Belanger’s insurance policy almost doubled in cost after Ida, and many of his loved ones were dropped from their policies altogether, he said.

In recent years, property insurance has become unaffordable or even impossible to obtain for citizens across the state, and affordable options often offer very low coverage, making some — like Belanger — afraid to leave their homes unattended during a storm.

“With the way the insurance companies are these days, you’ve almost got to stay back, to protect what you’ve got,” Belanger said.

Ashley Cusick

Satellite image shows Hurricane Francine churning through the Gulf of Mexico

It’s a number attached to every hurricane, crucial to emergency response teams and city officials to mobilize preparedness: the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, characterized by five categories.

The scale only measures one component of a hurricane: the wind. Each category is divided by a range of wind speeds, estimating potential damage and impacts on properties. Storms rated Category 3 and above are considered major.

The numbers categorize hurricanes based on maximum sustained wind speeds ranging from 74 mph to 157 mph and above.

This is an excerpt from a full story.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/interactive/2023/hurricane-categories-scale-explained/?itid=ap_amudalatajasa&itid=lk_inline_manual_54" target=_blank>Continue reading</a>.

Amudalat Ajasa

Aaron Steckelberg

Julie Hoban

As Francine has advanced inland, its peak winds have begun to decrease. The National Hurricane Center’s <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/112056.shtml" target=_blank>8 p.m. advisory</a> said Francine’s maximum sustained winds were down to 85 mph, a 15 mph drop since 6 p.m., making it a Category 1 hurricane. The storm was centered 55 miles west-southwest of New Orleans while moving northeast at 17 mph.

As Francine has come ashore, numerous locations in southeast Louisiana have clocked wind gusts over 50 mph, including New Orleans.

More remote locations along the coast have seen some top gusts over 90 mph. They include Dulac, about 15 miles south of Houma, which recorded a gust of 97 mph. On Eugene Island, about 30 miles southwest of Morgan City, the peak gust reached 105 mph.

Below is a map of some peak gusts through 6 p.m. Central time.

Peak wind gusts through 6 p.m. in Louisiana. (National Weather Service)

More than 175,000 customers in Louisiana have lost power as Hurricane Francine moves across the coast and over land.

According to the <a href="https://poweroutage.us/area/state/louisiana" target=_blank>tracking site PowerOutage.us</a>, the outages are focused in the state’s southern parishes, including Assumption, St. Mary and Lafourche. In Terrebonne, where Francine made landfall Wednesday, over 91 percent of all customers are now in the dark.

As it travels up the Gulf of Mexico, the New Orleans-based Carnival cruise ship Valor is “closely monitoring” Hurricane Francine’s path to determine whether it will be able to return to its home port in Louisiana.

“The guests on board have already been notified that there could be potential itinerary changes. Obviously, the number one goal is to keep everybody safe,” Amy Sweezey, Carnival Cruise Line’s weather contributor, said in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=kw30YmOYs4L-pfKR&v=DFkkRKJG5Vk&feature=youtu.be" target=_blank>YouTube video</a> Wednesday.

Valor — which typically sails on <a href="https://www.carnival.com/itinerary/5-day-western-caribbean-cruise/new-orleans/valor/5-days/cw6/?itinportcode=msy&military=N&pastGuest=N&senior=N&numGuests=2&evsel=&hideSailingEvents=true&locality=1&currency=USD&sailDate=01202025&roomType=IS" target=_blank>a five-day loop</a> between New Orleans and Cozumel and Yucatán in Mexico — was scheduled to arrive at the Port of New Orleans on Thursday. But its arrival might change depending on the damage Francine causes as it moves through the city, which is preparing for potential flooding with up to 8 inches of rain expected to fall.

That’s why the guests expecting to embark for Mexico on Thursday should be “flexible,” Sweezey said.

“Any itinerary changes that are made are to align your ship’s route with the most accurate forecast,” she added.

Hurricane Francine’s northern eyewall, or ring of violent storms surrounding its center, is progressing inland from Louisiana’s coastline. Torrential rain and damaging wind gusts are lashing Morgan City — where gusts have topped 60 mph — and Houma, which are both under flash flood warnings.

As the storm comes ashore, it’s also pushing a storm surge — or rise in ocean water above normally dry land — of several feet. A surge of over four feet has been observed in Eugene Island, which is about 20 miles south of Morgan City.

Scenes from the storm’s eyewall are coming in from storm chasers and broadcast meteorologists on social media. Here are several examples:

The National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Francine came ashore in Terrebonne Parish in southern Louisiana — 30 miles to the southwest of Morgan City — at 5 p.m. Central time. Its peak winds were 100 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane.

Francine is the third hurricane to make landfall in the United States this year, following Beryl in Matagorda, Tex., on July 8 and Debby near Steinhatchee, Fla., on Aug. 5.

After Hurricane Ida left parts of southern Louisiana without power for as much as two weeks in 2021, community leaders vowed to prevent such a disaster from repeating. Their solution: “community lighthouses.”

The outposts would be solar-powered with backup batteries, stabilizing communities in the aftermath of a storm. They would operate indefinitely as emergency shelters, providing a place for people to seek air conditioning, charge devices and store medications.

Now, Francine could provide a valuable first test of the resilience strategy: Nine of the outposts are now scattered across New Orleans, with a 10th in neighboring LaPlace.

Some of them got up and running just in recent weeks, said Broderick Bagert, an organizer with Together Louisiana, the community coalition of congregations and civic organizations behind the program.

While New Orleans is not expecting a direct hit from Francine, the initiative is helping provide a bit of hopefulness, he said — that a community scarred by so many past hurricanes could weather the next monster storm better.

“There’s a much better sense of preparedness,” Bagert said.

Scott Dance

The “life-threatening” storm surge that the National Hurricane Center has been warning of is now developing on the Louisiana coast as Hurricane Francine makes landfall there. Pictures and videos posted on social media show rising water and flooding in locations including Dulac, Cocodrie and Chauvin, La.

A storm surge warning covers the Louisiana coast — except for the far western shore from Cameron to the Texas border — and the entire Mississippi coast. The worst of the storm surge, or the rise in ocean water above normally dry land, is expected along the central Louisiana coast from Burns Point to Port Fourchon, where water levels could reach 5 to 10 feet above ground level.

The Hurricane Center said the water could reach the following heights if peak surge occurs at high tide:

Burns Point to Port Fourchon: 5 to 10 feet

Port Fourchon to the mouth of the Mississippi River: 4 to 7 feet

Mouth of the Pearl River, La., to Ocean Springs, Miss.: 4 to 6 feet

Ocean Springs, Miss., to the Mississippi-Alabama border: 3 to 5 feet

Cameron, La., to Intracoastal City, La.: 3 to 5 feet

Dan Stillman

Francine continues sweeping toward Louisiana’s shoreline Wednesday evening while adding a final burst of strength. Sustained winds have increased to 100 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane.

Francine has moved a bit more east than previously forecast, with the center now about 40 miles south of Morgan City as it progresses to the northeast at 17 mph. The storm’s eyewall. or zone of torrential rain and violent winds surrounding the calm center, is moving into Morgan City and surrounding locations. The storm should make landfall south of that city on the shores of Atchafalaya Bay in early evening.

Key points from the National Hurricane Center’s last full advisory before landfall include:

Hurricane hunter aircraft found the central pressure of Francine has fallen to 972 millibars as peak winds increased to 100 mph.

The strongest winds observed by the flight crew were in the east and southeast quadrant of the storm.

Francine will make landfall over the next few hours.

Life-threatening storm surge, or rise in ocean water above normally dry land, is likely in Louisiana and Mississippi tonight along the coast.

South-central and southeast Louisiana should face the worst of the wind and wind damage potential.

Flooding will remain a concern in the South through Thursday.

Ian Livingston

HOUMA, La.— As winds picked up on Wednesday, Don Thibodeaux, 57, looked to the sky from the front porch of his home along Bayou Terrebonne.

Until recently, Thibodeaux was living in a FEMA trailer in Montegut, the coastal Terrebonne Parish town south of here where he watched Hurricane Ida destroy his home <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://wgno.com/hurricane-ida/three-years-later-terrebonne-parish-is-still-recovering-from-hurricane-ida/__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!HrdkN0DoLmArWeBPe0ycXz-0roCILTJCQRxBKHJAqkwzVmgt4w9TloNdL61WUS1lpiIHbF_lMAovUaNNHGNyJ7hUA8q-Aw$" target="_blank">three years ago</a>.

“I never seen a storm that bad before,” Thibodeaux said.

Unable to keep up with the FEMA trailer’s <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2023-05-19/rent-to-increase-on-fema-trailers-for-louisianans-impacted-by-hurricane-ida-heres-what-to-know__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!HrdkN0DoLmArWeBPe0ycXz-0roCILTJCQRxBKHJAqkwzVmgt4w9TloNdL61WUS1lpiIHbF_lMAovUaNNHGNyJ7hbl4vUsg$" target=_blank>rising rent</a>, Thibodeaux left Montegut two weeks ago to move into this family property in downtown Houma, where he and his father now waited for Hurricane Francine to arrive.

“It’s a Category 1. I been in a 5, so this here doesn’t scare me,” Thibodeaux said. “A little rain, a little flood, a little wind. The good Lord going to take care of us. That’s what I believe.”

Francine was on track to pass through St. Martin Parish, where Sheriff Becket Breaux had fanned deputies out in advance of the storm.

“It’s almost like the calm before the storm,” Breaux said Wednesday afternoon, as winds gusted up to 30 mph.

“We expect it to pick up substantially” by evening, he said, with heavy rain and potential flooding.

While the parish is home to about 52,000, Breaux was most concerned about flooding in the southern portion of the parish known as “lower St. Martin” where only about 1,500 people live.

It’s “almost right in the path,” with a river running through it and a levee along the swampy Atchafalaya Basin.

“I’ve got my deputies all staged out here,” Breaux said. “It’s not a big community, but every life matters.”

He said deputies were prepared to evacuate residents from the area, where the storm’s impact could linger.

“It’s an isolated community and when the electricity goes out, it takes longer than normal to get it back on,” he said.

Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Hurricane Francine, centered about 60 miles off Louisiana’s southern coast, is poised to come ashore this evening after passing through Atchafalaya Bay, about 85 miles southwest of New Orleans.

<a href="https://x.com/NWSNewOrleans/status/1833938765116834141" target=_blank>Tropical-storm-force </a>winds are already moving inland, and hurricane-force gusts are being regularly observed offshore. Coastal locations are witnessing sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. <a href="https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=KEKE&hours=48&units=english&chart=on&headers=on&obs=tabular&hourly=true&pview=standard" target=_blank>On an elevated oil platform</a> in the northern Gulf of Mexico, gusts up to 112 mph were recently observed.

The eye of the storm is forecast to reach land within an hour or two of 7 p.m. Central time

Increasingly damaging winds and torrential rain associated with the storm’s eyewall — or ring of violent thunderstorms around the storm center — will reach coastal zones by early evening.

Some of the worst conditions may affect population centers from Morgan City and Bayou Vista to Houma. The forecast in this area, about 15 to 20 miles inland, calls for peak sustained winds of 60 to 80 mph and gusts to 95 mph this evening.

Low-lying areas near and to the east of where Francine comes ashore could see a storm surge — or rise in water above normally dry land — of 5 to 10 feet.

Tropical-storm-force winds, exceeding 40 mph, are expected in and around Baton Rouge and New Orleans later this evening, bringing the potential for downed trees and utility lines and widespread power outages.

Hurricane Francine is forecast to make landfall along an area of the Gulf Coast that has seen a burst of sea level rise since 2010, according to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/southern-us-sea-level-rise-risk-cities/?itid=lk_inline_manual_129" target=_blank>Post analysis</a>. At Grand Isle on the Louisiana coast, and New Canal Station on Lake Pontchartrain, average sea levels increased by about 6 inches in the past 14 years. The storm’s landfall could coincide with an incoming high tide, a combination that could cause storm surges of up to 10 feet along the coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Kevin Crowe

HOUMA, La.— At Houma’s Downtown Marina, Warren Renfroe, 76, planned to ride out the storm on his houseboat. A retired ship’s captain, Renfroe said he spent years navigating the open seas in conditions far worse than he expected Hurricane Francine to bring.

Renfroe felt his boat would be safest moored here at the marina, which he said sits slightly inland from Terrebonne Parish’s more coastal areas and — hopefully — would be shielded from storm surge by the ongoing <a href="https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Portals/56/docs/PD/Projects/MTG/Morganza%20to%20the%20Gulf%20Fact%20Sheet%20July%202024.pdf" target=_blank>Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico project</a>, a <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nola.com/news/environment/new-corps-review-morganza-to-gulf-hurricane-levee/article_b733e1e0-4f8a-11ef-92f2-bb31cd529521.html__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!GZbYsA25CRtnaDtetl5m0vOulWR2h4wtO2PQmuWWXWET6i9LIipze_5WUHGuaKwDwJfDepP9WQlFgN58aV4PD6GHoMRewg$" target=_blank>multibillion-dollar storm protection system</a> that includes <a href="https://www.houmatimes.com/news/terrebonne-levee-conservation-district-provides-flood-control-structures-overview/" target=_blank>80 miles </a>of <a href="https://www.nola.com/morganza-to-the-gulf-hurricane-levee/image_b543e330-5007-11ef-a7f3-4f8eb489b1eb.html" target=_blank>levees</a> in this parish alone. The system’s floodgates were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCsxd4aqzJ0" target=_blank>closed</a> this week in advance of the incoming hurricane.

“As a ship’s captain, my job is to navigate to a better situation than what Mother Nature is trying to shove down my throat,” Renfroe said.

To prepare for Francine’s arrival, Renfroe secured his boat here and loaded it with enough gasoline and diesel fuel to last 12 days, plus water for him and his wife to shower daily across that stretch.

Sitting at his boat’s kitchen island, with an image of Tuesday night’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/11/presidential-debate-takeaways/?itid=lk_inline_manual_135" target=_blank>presidential debate</a> paused on the television screen and his small dog napping in the living room, Renfroe was still careful not to imply that one can outsmart Mother Nature: “She’s bad to the bone,” he said.

MyRadar

A <a href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0667.html" target=_blank>tornado watch</a> was issued for portions of southeastern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi until 11 p.m. Central time. New Orleans, Lafayette and Gulfport-Biloxi are included in the watch area. The Storm Prediction Center indicates that there is a “high” likelihood of one or more tornadoes.

Francine’s counterclockwise spin is pumping warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico to the east of the storm center. That’s also where there is increasing shear, or a change of wind speed and/or direction with height.

WeatherBell

Any of Francine’s rain bands sweeping ashore out of the southeast will be capable of spawning quick-hitting tornadoes.

“The potential for tornadoes is expected to increase through the afternoon and early evening,” the National Weather Service said.

Matthew Cappucci

At 1 p.m. Central time, the National Hurricane Center <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/111744.shtml" target=_blank>reported </a>that Hurricane Francine had peak winds of 90 mph as it continued plowing to the northeast at 16 mph. The storm was centered 95 miles southwest of Morgan City, La., and, at its current rate of motion, should make landfall early Wednesday evening. The Hurricane Center said tropical storm conditions were beginning along the coast. Weather radar showed heavy rain falling throughout much of southern Louisiana, where winds were gusting to 30 mph, as well as southern Mississippi.

HOUMA, La. — Roads were empty Wednesday in Houma, the Terrebonne Parish seat, but for a few residents completing their final preparations under a steadily drizzling sky.

At the local Lowe’s home-improvement store, Chris Bundy, 72, said she was not particularly concerned about this storm. “I’ve been through a lot of hurricanes in my life,” she said.

Still, after having to live without power for three scorching weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in 2021, Bundy decided to upgrade her preparations for Francine: Just before Lowe’s early closure Wednesday morning, Bundy loaded a generator into her cart.

Satellite imagery shows the Category 1 hurricane on its approach toward the Louisiana coast. As of 10 a.m. central, Francine was about 150 miles southwest of Morgan City, La.

Hurricane Francine approaches Louisiana coast

John Farrell

In New Orleans, residents were told to stay off roads and shelter in place by 11 a.m. Wednesday.

In Terrebonne Parish, about an hour southwest of the city and more directly in Francine’s projected path, officials implemented a parish-wide curfew beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday. A mandatory evacuation order was also called for residents living in the parish’s most low-lying coastal areas, including the <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.isledejeancharles.com/__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!B7lI6nvqquQgomtBZPa2Z6_PZSNFSTLXURZZuyrlt61ti3W4JRE5MU94XI8hDeNmZ2oBFGwMvTf2nLH2G1abNJZGzRd7Tg$" target=_blank>Isle de Jean Charles</a>, a Tribal community that sits outside upgraded levee protection which has undergone <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://isledejeancharles.la.gov/resettlement-plan__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!B7lI6nvqquQgomtBZPa2Z6_PZSNFSTLXURZZuyrlt61ti3W4JRE5MU94XI8hDeNmZ2oBFGwMvTf2nLH2G1abNJY6hzzWWA$" target=_blank>federally-funded resettlement</a> in recent years due to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/10/25/flood-zone-homes-buyouts/?itid=lk_inline_manual_154" target=_blank>growing uninhabitability</a> caused by rising sea levels and coastal erosion.

As Hurricane Francine begins to shower the region with bands of rain and wind, utility companies are on standby.

The largest utility provider in Louisiana, <a href="https://x.com/Entergy/status/1833877135968117023" target=_blank>Entergy</a>, said customers in the direct path could be without power for a week or more, depending on Francine’s strength. The company has mobilized 5,300 restoration workers to restore power.

Entergy Mississippi, one of the largest providers in Mississippi, said because of drought conditions, more trees could fall and down power lines.

“No matter what happens over the next few days, we stand storm ready,” Entergy Mississippi’s president and CEO, Haley Fisackerly, said in a <a href="https://www.entergynewsroom.com/storm-center/article/message-our-customers-what-expect-with-hurricane-francine/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=entergyms&utm_content=14632369055&utm_campaign=storm_prep-" target=_blank>statement</a>. “Most important is the safety of those living and working in communities where Francine will strike. Then, restoring power is the top priority and first order of business.”

Hurricane season is waking up after the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/09/04/atlantic-hurricane-season-forecasts-quiet/?itid=lk_inline_manual_162" target=_blank>longest late-summer stretch in more than 50 years</a> without a tropical system in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

In addition to Francine, now a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches the Louisiana coast, the National Hurricane Center is <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=7" target=_blank>tracking four disturbances</a> with varying potential to develop into at least a tropical depression, or an area of thunderstorms rotating around a low-pressure center. A tropical depression is the first step to becoming a tropical storm, which requires sustained surface winds of at least 39 mph. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane if its winds increase to at least 74 mph.

Here’s what the Hurricane Center is saying about the disturbances, from right to left in the image above:

Showers and thunderstorms a few hundred miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands are moving west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph and “showing signs of organization,” the Hurricane Center wrote Wednesday morning. At 11 a.m., it said that tall thunderstorms had organized near the center and that Tropical Depression 7 had formed.

The depression’s peak winds were listed at 35 mph and it is forecast to become a tropical storm by Thursday, earning the name Gordon. Computer models suggest this system will remain out at sea.

A stretched-out area of low pressure in the central tropical Atlantic is moving to the west at 5 to 10 mph and “continues to produce some disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity,” the Hurricane Center wrote. “Environmental conditions appear marginally conducive for some slight development during the next day or two.”

The chance of becoming a tropical depression is 30 percent in the next seven days.

Just to the west of disturbance #2 and several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands, “a small but well-defined area of low pressure” slowly moving west-northwest “is producing an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms,” the Hurricane Center wrote. “Dry air near the system is expected to limit additional development over the next couple of days before environmental conditions become even less conducive by this weekend.”

The chance of becoming a tropical depression is 10 percent in the next seven days.

Low pressure could form off the southeastern U.S. coast by late Friday or this weekend. It could take on some tropical characteristics or become a tropical depression late in the weekend or early next week “as the system meanders over the Gulf Stream or drifts slowly northward,” the Hurricane Center wrote.

The chance of becoming a tropical depression is zero percent through Friday morning and 20 percent in the next seven days. Some computer models suggest this system could affect the Mid-Atlantic coast next week.

Ahead of Hurricane Francine’s anticipated landfall in Louisiana, about 200 flights across the state have been canceled, and dozens delayed.

Francine weakens to tropical storm after hitting Louisiana as Category 2 hurricane

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