(12 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Morgan City, Louisiana – 11 September 2024
1. Wide of windy conditions in residential street
2. Various of emergency services in weather
3. Wide of broken tree branches on ground
4. Wide of residential street with weather
5. Wide of windy conditions on street
STORYLINE:
Hurricane Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening as a dangerous Category 2 storm that knocked out electricity to roughly 190,000 customers and threatened widespread flooding as it sent a potentially deadly storm surge rushing inland along the Gulf Coast.
Francine crashed ashore in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, the National Hurricane Center announced at 4 p.m. CDT. Packing maximum sustained winds near 100 mph (155 kph), the hurricane then 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 190,000 hours after landfall, spread widely across southeast Louisiana. Blackouts affected the majority of homes and businesses in coastal parishes nearest where the storm came inland as well as their inland neighbors, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
The National Hurricane Center urged residents to stay sheltered overnight as the 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 (155 kph) hours before landfall.
Still dangerous, the hurricane began weakening as it rushed inland, dropping in less than two hours back to a Category 1 storm with top winds of 85 mph (140 kph). Francine continued moving northeast at a fast clip of 17 mph (28 kph) on a path toward New Orleans, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) away.
It was forecast to weaken further while pushing northward through Mississippi on Thursday, with widespread rains in the coming days bringing potential flash flooding to cities including Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta. It also raised the threat of spin-off tornadoes.
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.
(AP video by Jack Brook)
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