Francine weakens after causing widespread power outages, flooding

(NewsNation) — Francine was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday night after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 2 hurricane. As of 7 a.m. CT, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression.

The storm system knocked out electricity to over a quarter-million Americans and threatened widespread flooding throughout the region.

Now, the storm continued to move inland Thursday over southeastern Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, bringing heavy rainfall to Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Hurricane Center.

A storm surge warning remains in effect for Grand Isle, Louisiana, to the Mississippi-Alabama border; Lake Maurepas; and Lake Pontchartrain.

Francine makes landfall

Francine crashed ashore Wednesday in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles southwest of Morgan City. Packing top sustained winds near 100 mph, the hurricane battered a fragile coastal region that hasn’t fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

Morgan City Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said the hurricane quickly flooded streets, snapped power lines and sent tree limbs crashing down.

Power outages in Louisiana topped 261,000 hours after landfall, spread widely across southeast Louisiana. Blackouts affected the majority of homes and businesses in coastal parishes nearest where the storm came ashore as well as their inland neighbors, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

Preparing for Hurricane Francine

The National Hurricane Center urged residents to stay sheltered overnight as the weakening hurricane churned inland. The storm’s projected path included New Orleans, where forecasters said the storm’s eye could pass through.

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 with winds exceeding 96 mph in the hours before landfall.

Three hours after landfall, it barely remained a hurricane with top sustained winds down to 75 mph. Francine was moving northeast at a fast clip of 17 mph on a path toward New Orleans, about 50 miles away.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.