MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Francine weakened to a tropical storm late Wednesday after striking Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane that blacked out more than 275,000 homes and businesses, sent storm surge rushing into coastal communities and raised flood fears in New Orleans and beyond as drenching rains spread over the northern Gulf Coast.
The storm was forecast to be downgraded to a tropical depression Thursday as it churned northward over Mississippi, the National Hurricane Center said. Some 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain were possible in portions of Mississippi and neighboring states, forecasters said, warning of the potential threat of scattered flash flooding as farflung as Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta.
Francine slammed the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening with 100 mph (155 kph) winds in coastal Terrebonne Parish. battering a fragile coastal region that hasn’t fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021. It then moved at a fast clip of 17 mph (26 kph) toward New Orleans, pounding the city with torrential rains overnight.
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Dulac residents, top left, sit on their front porch as they watch water rise around their elevated home as the effects of Hurricane Francine are felt along the Louisiana coast on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP) -
The entrance to Lake Ponchartrain Causeway is closed due to Hurricane Francine in Metairie, La., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. The causeway is the longest continuous bridge over water in the world. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton) -
Kevin “Choupie” Badle, 67, rides his bike with an umbrella to buy more cigarettes at the store ahead of Hurricane Francine, expected to make landfall this evening, in Stephenville, La., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) -
The windows of a raised historic house are boarded up as residents prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Francine along the Louisiana coast on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Lafitte, La. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP) -
Delwyn Bodden, a worker for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West climbs a ladder up a floodgate to lock it closed along the Harvey Canal, just outside the New Orleans city limits, in anticipation of Tropical Storm Francine, in Harvey, La., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) -
Workers from the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West close floodgates along the Harvey Canal, just outside the New Orleans city limits, in anticipation of Tropical Storm Francine, in Harvey, La., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) -
A worker from the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West tightens turnbuckles as they close floodgates along the Harvey Canal, just outside the New Orleans city limits, in anticipation of Tropical Storm Francine, in Harvey, La., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) -
Cars drive through rain bands along Peter Rd., just outside New Orleans, ahead of Tropical Storm Francine, in Harvey, La., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) -
Shoppers in a suburb of New Orleans gather food supplies at a grocery store, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Brook) -
This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 7:10pm ET shows Hurricane Francine in the Gulf of Mexico as it advances towards Louisiana on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (NOAA via AP) -
A message aimed at The Weather Channel’s meteorologist Jim Cantore is displayed on the message board at the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway near New Orleans as the region prepares for Tropical Storm Francine Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP) -
A customer enters a gas station that is boarded up in anticipation of Hurricane Francine, in Morgan City, La., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. TV news broadcasts from coastal communities showed waves from nearby lakes, rivers and Gulf waters thrashing sea walls. Water poured into city streets amid blinding downpours. Oak and cypress trees leaned in the high winds, and some utility poles swayed back and forth.
“It’s a little bit worse than what I expected to be honest with you,” said Alvin Cockerham, fire chief of Morgan City about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from where the storm’s center made landfall. “I pulled all my trucks back to the station. It’s too dangerous to be out there in this.”
Power outages in Louisiana topped 362,546 a few hours after landfall, spread out widely across southeast Louisiana, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
Sheltering at her mother’s home just outside Morgan City, Laura Leftwich said blasts of wind had swept away two large birdhouses outside. She had a generator powering an internet connection so she could video chat with friends, holding her computer to a window to show them water overflowing in the street.
If the storm had been any more intense, “I wouldn’t have the guts to look outside,” said Leftwich, 40. “It’s a little scary.”
The sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, strengthening to a Category 2 storm before landfall.
In addition to torrential rains, there was a lingering threat of spin-off tornadoes from the storm Thursday.
Much of Louisiana and Mississippi could get 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain, with the possibility of 12 inches (30 centimeters) in some spots, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the National Guard would fan out to parishes impacted by Francine. They have food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including for possible search-and-rescue operations.
Since the mid-19th century, some 57 hurricanes have tracked over or made landfall in Louisiana, according to The Weather Channel. Among them are some of the strongest, costliest and deadliest storms in U.S. history.
Morgan City, home to around 11,500 people, sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in south Louisiana and is surrounded by lakes and marsh. It’s described on the city’s website as “gateway to the Gulf of Mexico for the shrimping and oilfield industries.”
President Joe Biden granted an emergency declaration to help Louisiana secure expedited federal money and assistance. Landry and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also declared states of emergency.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it distributed more than 100,000 sandbags to the southern part of the state and the Department of Education reported a number of school district closures for Wednesday and Thursday.