Hurricane Francine makes landfall in Louisiana as category 2 storm | US weather

Francine made landfall in south Louisiana on Wednesday as a category 2 hurricane as officials warned of life-threatening storm surge, flooding and 100mph winds.

There were evacuation orders in some parishes, as communities braced.

The US National Weather Service warned of “damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rain” in an area still recovering from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

The storm was the latest of a recent spate that have increased suddenly in intensity, as experts warn that the climate crisis is creating more powerful storms.

In Morgan City, south-west of New Orleans, gas stations had put plywood on the windows and moved trash cans inside, with a few pumps still serving the trickle of cars passing through shortly after dawn. The 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.

Larry Doiron, the owner of a Chevron station just outside the Morgan City limits, said he had enough gas to keep pumps operational through the storm.

“We’re the only place out here for the sheriff’s department, the fire department. We have gas. All the locals depend on us,” he said. “We’re going to try and stay on top of it and hopefully take care of everybody.”

After landfall, the center of the hurricane is expected to move northward from Louisiana into Mississippi on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said earlier Wednesday.

While the strongest winds and storm surge are expected to occur in south-central portions of Louisiana, heavy rain and tornado threats are expected to span areas further east, including in parts of southern Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, weather officials added.

“In total, Francine is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches, with local amounts to 12 inches for the central/eastern Gulf coast through Thursday night,” the National Weather Service said, adding that the rainfall could lead “to considerable flash and urban flooding”.

A state of emergency has been declared by the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi, and on Tuesday Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Louisiana, ordering federal assistance to supplement the state, tribal and local response efforts.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) encouraged residents in the path of the storm on Tuesday to “finish preparations, listen to local officials, and take the necessary safety precautions”.

The NWS in Jackson, Mississippi, said strong winds and heavy rainfall were expected in the area from Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday morning, and the Mississippi emergency management agency added that some areas of the state could see up to 10in of rain.

On Tuesday night, Jon Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, the private weather forecasting company, warned that residents in the New Orleans region should “not underestimate the impacts from Francine”.

“AccuWeather hurricane experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the risk for damaging winds in the densely populated New Orleans metropolitan area,” Porter said. “Should Francine pass closer to the city, the storm’s eyewall, the most intense part of the storm can pass near or over parts of the city, which would increase the risk for wind gusts of 80-100mph.”

The NWS in New Orleans advised residents on Wednesday to “make sure you have all preparations rushed to completion ASAP!” It told them to “prepare to hunker down & shelter in place through the overnight hours!”

In parts of Louisiana, schools were closed on Wednesday in anticipation of the hurricane and several parishes, including Lafitte and Barataria, issued mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday. Shelters and sandbag collection sites were also set up in areas across the Gulf coast.

On Wednesday morning, the New Orleans airport was also beginning to cancel flights ahead of Francine’s landfall.

During a news conference on Wednesday, the Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, said the state was “ready to answer whatever Francine delivers to us” and urged residents to stay off the roads, stay home and stay put.

Jacques Thibodeaux, the director of the Louisiana governor’s office of emergency preparedness, said at the news conference that the “time to evacuate has now passed” adding: “It is the time to go to ground and hunker down.”