Hurricane Francine made landfall in the US as a Category 2 storm and has already been deemed the ‘worst storm we’ve had in a while’ in the region.
Francine barreled ashore in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, at 5pm CDT on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Shortly after landfall, Francine was about 30 miles southwest of Morgan City and had winds reaching 100mph, while moving at 17mph northeast.
‘It’s a lot of rain, we have trees down, power out,’ Gary Driskell, the sheriff of St Mary Parish which includes Morgan City, told NBC News.
‘Yes it seems like it’s a direct hit coming over us right now.’
St Mary Parish has ‘been very lucky’ recently avoiding hurricanes but is prepared, Driskell said.
‘This is probably the worst storm we’ve had in a while,’ he said.
‘I was here for Andrew, nothing compares for that one, but you always have to be safe, you always have to do the right things. Just stay indoors.’
A hurricane warning was put in effect across most of Louisiana’s coastline and storm surge warnings were issued from Vermilion and Cameron Parish line to the Alabama and Mississippi border.
The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi declared a state of emergency and advised those living in coastal and low-lying areas to evacuate.
Shortly after making landfall, Francine weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. But it continued to pose the danger of life-threatening storm surge.
More than 100,000 outages were recorded across Louisiana with the most, 23,360, in Terrebonne Parish, according to poweroutage.us.
New Orleans was bracing for four to eight inches of rain and all flights out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were canceled.
Francine was the first hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since Category 4 Hurricane Ida in 2021.
Hurricane Francine may be the first test of ‘community lighthouses’ that local leaders built in the aftermath of Ida, reported The Washington Post. The solar-powered structures are designed to serve as emergency shelters with charging devices, medical supplies and air conditioning for people displaced by storms.
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