Hurricane Francine Forms In Gulf Of Mexico As Louisiana Prepares For Landfall

As of the 7 p.m. CDT update from the National Hurricane Center, Francine had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph—just putting it above the 74 mph threshold for Category 1 hurricane status—was located about 350 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and was moving northeast at 10 mph.

Forecasters predict the storm will continue strengthening and peak with winds of 90 mph before landfall, noting they expect a period of “steady to rapid strengthening” to take place over the next 24 hours, despite winds remaining steady at 65 mph throughout the day Tuesday before the 7 p.m. upgrade.

Francine, which is expected to hit Louisiana on Wednesday evening, has prompted a hurricane warning for the Louisiana coast from Cameron to Grand Isle, a storm surge warning from Sabine Pass, Texas, to the Mississippi-Alabama border and tropical storm warnings stretching all the way from extreme east Texas to the Alabama-Florida border.

A hurricane watch covers the New Orleans metro area, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, which are concurrently under a tropical storm warning.

The storm threatens to bring “life-threatening inundation” to areas under the storm surge warning, with a peak surge of up to 10 feet expected between the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and Port Fourchon along the Louisiana coast.

Widespread rainfall totals of four to eight inches are expected, and some areas could get up to a foot of rain, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned there could be “considerable flash and urban flooding,” and also a threat of tornadoes.

Evacuation orders are in place for large swaths of coastal Louisiana, mainly covering low-lying areas with limited or no levee protection, while many schools in south Louisiana will be closed Wednesday.