Hurricane Francine is lashing Louisiana as landfall nears

When storms knock out power to thousands of homes and businesses, many tend to turn to alternate sources of power such as gasoline-fueled generators. If used incorrectly, these generators can be deadly.?

During the last two powerful storms that battered Louisiana — Hurricanes Laura and Ida — more people died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the improper use of portable generators than the actual storm itself.?

CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers explains how to keep you and your household safe when using these generators.

Officials in Louisiana warned Hurricane Francine is fast approaching the state and advised those in its path to make preparations and get ready to ride out the storm.

“I would urge residents to take the necessary steps of preparing for the storm to come,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “It is on our doorstep as we speak.”

Heavy rain, gusty winds and tornado-warned storms have already started to impact the state and conditions will only worsen over the next few hours ahead of landfall.

“The time to evacuate has now passed, it is the time to go to ground and hunker down,” said Jacques Thibodeaux, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said, urging people to go somewhere safe like a shelter to ride out the storm. “We are now no longer in the ‘prepare’ for a hurricane. We are now in the ‘respond’ to a hurricane.”

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell speaks during a press conference on Wednesday.

The storm-battered city of New Orleans is prepared for Hurricane Francine,?which is fast approaching the Louisiana coast as a Category 1 storm, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a Wednesday news conference.

“Because we have made solid and sound investments in our infrastructure, we are prepared in [more] ways than we have ever been before,” she added, urging residents to stay home and “hunker down” during the storm.

Some of those changes include overhauling the city’s emergency communications system, according to Orleans Parish Communications District Director Karl Fashold.

“We are in the best place we’ve ever been with regard to 911 reliability,” he said. More staff members have been brought in to answer 911 calls, Fashold added.

New Orleans officials have handed out roughly 2,500 sandbags to the public to prepare for the storm. The city has also set up emergency resource centers that will open after the storm to provide necessary supplies, shelter and other assistance.

City officials urge residents to avoid downed power lines, flooded roads, and to avoid driving around Lake Pontchartrain to watch the water coming over the seawall.?

When using generators during power outages, New Orleans Homeland Security director Collin Arnold warned people to be sure to use them correctly – and outside of their homes – reminding people that the city “lost more people during Hurricane Ida to generators than we did to the storm.”

Francine is introducing a new danger to the Gulf Coast as it inches closer to landfall: tornadoes.?

A tornado warning was posted moments ago for portions of Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish, according to the National Weather Service. It’s the first such warning of likely more to come Wednesday. More than 2.5 million people in parts of Louisiana – including New Orleans – and Mississippi were placed under a tornado watch Wednesday afternoon.

Along with heavy rain, damaging wind and storm surge, hurricanes also produce tornadoes. Areas to the north and east of a storm’s center are at the greatest risk, on average.

Hurricane Francine as seen from the Hammond, Louisiana, weather radar.

Francine’s eye and its eyewall are on display in this recent radar loop. The hurricane is now within range of southern Louisiana’s multiple weather radars as landfall draws ever closer.

A hurricane’s strongest winds are located in its eyewall, an area of tightly spinning winds encircling its center, or eye.?

Very strong hurricanes often have an eye — free of storminess — that can be spotted on satellite imagery, but for other storms radar may provide the only clear look.?

Francine is currently centered about 120 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and is tracking northeast at 13 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Landfall is expected late this afternoon or this evening in Louisiana.?

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Updated 2:28 PM EDT, Wed September 11, 2024

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00:10 - Source: cnn

We are here in Morgan City, Louisiana, where Hurricane Francine is expected to make landfall later today.

The storm has been picking up the pace as it moves toward us from the southwest, and not only is the wind getting stronger here, its outer rain bands have just arrived.

It’s the first sprinkle of what could be a lot of rain – as much as 10 inches is expected in parts of southern Louisiana.

But that’s not all – right here in this spot, water levels could surge 10 feet above normal as Hurricane Francine’s winds push the ocean onto normally dry land. It’s a dangerous prospect that forecasters and emergency managers have been warning of.

A Louisiana town on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain is preparing for Francine to send water into its streets.

Flooding is serious concern in LaPlace, in St. John the Baptist Parish, due to its proximity to Lake Pontchartrain – which has born its teeth with a history of flooding issues.

The lake’s water level is already high, parish president Jaclyn Hotard said. Add potential storm surge and heavy rainfall, and officials are expecting streets and roadways to flood.

Gravity-based drainage systems send water to the lake, so if it is full, the lake’s feeder canals will flood, back up drainage systems in neighborhoods and cause flooding.

Howard just hopes the water won’t get into homes.

Boats and high water rescue vehicles from the National Guard and other agencies are at the ready, and fire and police are now on 24-hour shifts.

While Francine’s strongest winds haven’t reached the mainland yet, oil rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico are getting rocked by the hurricane.

An elevated oil platform located north of Francine’s center recently reported sustained winds of 85 mph and a gust of 101 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Peak storm surge expected from Hurricane Francine.

Francine’s strong winds will push several feet of water onto normally dry land as it approaches landfall in Louisiana later today. This phenomenon, known as storm surge, could reach dangerous levels.

Storm surge warnings are in effect for much of the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines. Multiple National Weather Service offices in the region are warning life-threatening storm surge is possible.

Evacuation orders were issued for multiple communities along the Gulf Coast this week, mainly because of the risk storm surge poses.

Depending on Francine’s exact landfall timing, storm surge levels up to 10 feet are possible, mainly along the central Louisiana coast. But any coastal locations from the greater Houston-Galveston area to the westernmost portion of the Florida Panhandle could experience at least a few feet of surge.

Here’s the X-factor: The timing of landfall matters for storm surge levels because of natural tidal cycles.

If Francine arrives around or just after low tide, the worst-case scenario for storm surge is less likely. Low tide will happen around mid-afternoon Wednesday for much of the Louisiana coast, according to NOAA observations. The tide will creep up again through the evening and peak Wednesday night, likely when Francine’s center will be inland.

Men board up a window as Francine intensifies in Morgan City, Louisiana, on September 10.

When Francine makes landfall Wednesday evening, it will be the third hurricane to slam the United States this season. No season since 2020 has had that many landfalling hurricanes in the US.

So far this year, Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Texas and Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Florida.?

2020 was an incredibly busy and destructive season: Six hurricanes of varying intensities slammed into the US: Hanna, Isaias, Laura, Sally, Delta and Zeta.

Since 2020, four hurricanes hit the US in total before this year: Idalia in 2023, Ian in 2022 and Ida and Nicholas in 2021. ?

Hurricane Francine is tracking toward Louisiana and pushing drenching rainfall over portions of the Gulf Coast. Its strong winds are now lapping at the coastline, where conditions are deteriorating and will continue to worsen over the next few hours.

Francine is packing sustained winds of 90 mph – a Category 1. The center of the hurricane is just 150 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and is tracking northeast at 13 mph.

Francine is expected to pick up additional forward speed this afternoon while on a collision course with the Louisiana coast late this afternoon or evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane is contending with storm-disrupting wind shear this morning, which has helped limit its overall strength. Francine is now expected to remain a strong Category 1 hurricane at landfall instead of a Category 2, according to the NHC, but its dangerous flooding, storm surge and wind damage impacts remain unchanged.

Satellite imagery caught the sunrise this morning over the eastern half of the United States. It also captured Hurricane Francine.

Hurricane Francine churns in the western Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning.

In the loop above, dark skies and clusters of bright, city lights are quickly replaced with daylight as the full extent of Francine is revealed by the sun.?

The center of Francine was over open water in the northwest Gulf of Mexico at sunrise, but clouds and moisture influenced by the hurricane had already stretched over much of the Southeast.?

Though Francine was churning in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 storm overnight, it could strengthen into a Category 2 by the time it reaches Louisiana later today.

But what do these categories mean?

Hurricanes are rated 1 through 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale based on their wind speed. Damage is exponential as wind speed increases, meaning a strong Category 3 storm could do up to 60 times as much damage as a weak Category 1 storm.

Here are the main risks you can expect with each category:

Category 1: 74-95 mph

Sustained winds are enough to blow shingles off roofs and damage gutters and vinyl siding. These winds also can uproot trees and bring down branches, causing power outages and more property damage. They can damage power lines directly, too.

Category 2: 96-110 mph

Winds this strong can cause as much as 20 times the damage as those of a Category 1 storm, including extensive damage to a home’s roof and siding.

Numerous trees and power lines will most likely be damaged, blocking roads, damaging property and knocking out power for days, if not weeks.

Category 3: 111-129 mph

Now in “major hurricane” territory, wind damage is much more widespread. Well-built homes and other buildings could suffer major damage, and roofs will sustain heavy damage. Numerous trees will be damaged or uprooted. Electricity and water could be shut off for several days.

Category 4: 130-156 mph

Catastrophic damage can result from these winds. Well-built homes will be heavily damaged, with most of the roof blown away. Trees and power lines will be down. Water and power services could be out for months, with the hardest-hit places uninhabitable for weeks.

Category 5: 157 mph or greater

These are the most powerful storms on Earth. Most well-built homes will be destroyed, and many will be stripped to the foundation. Power outages could last for months, and the areas hardest hit could be uninhabitable for months.

After a head-stratchingly quiet lull in hurricane activity during what should be the busiest time of year, the Atlantic is showing concerning signs of storms to come.?

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center have pinpointed four areas to watch for tropical trouble in addition to Francine. While three of the four areas have a low chance for development within the next seven days, one has forecasters on high alert.?

Chances for tropical development over the next seven days in the Atlantic.

That red blob shows where a patch of stormy weather – currently located a few hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde islands – could track over the next week. It has a high chance to develop into at least a tropical depression over the next few days, according to the NHC.

It’s still too early to know how strong it could get or where it could go after it develops, but the threat bears close monitoring.?

The uptick in activity comes after a lengthy lull in organized tropical development. The stretch of time between the formation of Ernesto in August and Francine this week was the longest such gap in activity during the busiest part of the season in more than 55 years.

Francine will unleash heavy rainfall over parts of the Gulf Coast this week and the highest totals are set to unfold near where the center tracks in Louisiana and Mississippi. ?

A level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall is in place for portions of southern and eastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Widespread rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches are likely here, but some areas could end up with close to a foot of rain.?

Rainfall rates in some of Francine’s most torrential storms could reach up to a staggering 4 inches per hour, the WPC warned Wednesday.

Those rainfall rates are more than enough to cause flash flooding, even for areas that are used to heavy rain.?But wet conditions in Louisiana late last week have left the ground soggy and more prone to flooding.?

Fortunately, Francine is expected to move through the Gulf Coast quickly, which should limit truly eye-popping rainfall amounts that storms like Beryl and Debby unloaded earlier this season.?

Cars drive through rain bands along Peter Rd., just outside New Orleans, ahead of Tropical Storm Francine, in Harvey, La., on Tuesday, September 10.

Francine will strengthen as it approaches Louisiana Wednesday.

Tropical storm-force winds (39 mph+) should begin in southern Louisiana Wednesday morning. Conditions will deteriorate in Louisiana through the morning and afternoon as the center gets closer, with winds and rainfall picking up as the storm approaches.

Landfall is projected to occur late in the afternoon into the evening (4 to 8 p.m.) near Morgan City in south-central Louisiana.

Here’s when some of the worst conditions are expected to unfold (all times in CDT):

Morgan City, Louisiana

New Orleans

Lafayette, Louisiana

Mobile, Alabama

Radar shows Francine’s rain has started in Louisiana. It will get much heavier as the day goes on and the storm tracks north. As much as 8 inches could accumulate in the rainiest locations.

This radar loop shows rain from Francine pushing over the Louisiana coast.

Francine remains a formidable Category 1 hurricane this morning with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. While it hasn’t gotten any stronger over the last few hours, the hurricane has started to pick up the pace.?

Its forward speed has increased from 10 mph earlier this morning to now 12 mph. The hurricane will continue to track generally to the northeast today.?

Francine is expected to strengthen further and max out as a Category 2 hurricane this afternoon before making landfall in Louisiana late this afternoon or this evening.?

Hurricane Francine tracks toward the US coast early Wednesday morning.

Back-to-back powerful storms have slammed Louisiana in recent years. In 2020, Hurricane Laura ravaged Lake Charles in southwest Louisiana. The Category 4 storm’s ferocious winds flattened homes, toppled large vehicles, uprooted trees, left many residents without power and took dozens of lives.

Just a year later, Category 4 Hurricane Ida threw southern Louisiana into a similar chaos — except it wreaked havoc on the more populated areas in and around New Orleans. Ida dumped more than 10 inches of rain across parts of the Gulf Coast and generated a storm surge as high as 14 feet.

Hurricanes Laura and Ida were tragic examples of how human-caused climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous, and they made lasting impressions on the state and left its residents and infrastructure vulnerable to repeat damage and farther away from recovery. Years later, some residents are still waiting on financial relief, while others are in legal battles with insurance companies.

Francine will be the 12th hurricane to hit Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina devastated the state in 2005, with five of those strikes coming in the last five years. That is more hurricanes than any other state — Florida (10) and Texas (nine) — has seen in that same time period.