A tropical storm Francine An increasingly powerful hurricane moved into the extremely warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and is expected to reach hurricane strength before making landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday.
A hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast from the Texas border east to Grand Isle, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of New Orleans, and a tropical storm warning extended east to the mouth of the Pearl River, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
A storm surge warning extends from east of Houston to the mouth of the Mississippi River, south of New Orleans. Such a warning means there is a risk of life-threatening flooding.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents to “not panic, but be prepared” and heed evacuation warnings. Forecasters said: Francine is expected to make landfall in southern Louisiana Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2 hurricane, with winds of 96 to 112 miles per hour.
“We don’t want people to wait until the last minute to get on the road and run out of gas,” Landry said. “We put out a lot of information throughout the summer and hurricane season so people can be prepared. The more prepared we are, the easier it is for us.”
Late Tuesday morning, Francine was still a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 62 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. The system was located about 120 miles (195 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande and was moving north-northeast at a speed of 8 miles (13 kilometers) per hour.
The storm is moving over the extremely warm waters of the Gulf, which will serve as fuel to strengthen it. The water temperature is about 31 degrees Celsius where it is located Francinesaid Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences.
“The ocean heat content, averaged across the Gulf, is the highest on record at this time,” McNoldy wrote on his blog.
Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Brad Reinhart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, warned Tuesday morning that the storm has the potential to bring life-threatening storm surges and potentially deadly hurricane-force winds.
There is also a possibility of 4 to 8 inches of rain, and up to 12 inches locally, across much of Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday morning, Reinhart said. The heavy rainfall could also cause significant flash and urban flooding.
Francine is heading towards the Louisiana coastline which has not yet fully recovered from the hurricanes Laura And Delta that decimated Lake Charles in 2020, followed a year later by Hurricane IdaOver the weekend, a 22-story building in Lake Charles that had become a symbol of storm destruction imploded after sitting vacant for nearly four years, its windows shattered and covered with shredded tarps.
The storm surge of Francine on the Louisiana coast could reach 10 feet from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay, forecasters said.
“This is a very dangerous, life-threatening flood potential,” said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, adding that Francine could also send “dangerous and destructive winds far inland.”
The hurricane is expected to make landfall somewhere between Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana border, and Morgan City, Louisiana, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) to the east, he said.
Evacuations and preparations
Louisiana officials urged residents to prepare immediately while “conditions still permit,” said Mike Steele, a spokesman for the governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
“We always talk about the fact that any time something happens in the Gulf, things can change quickly, and this is a perfect example of that,” Steele said.
Residents in Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, have begun forming long lines to fill their gas tanks and stock up on groceries. Others are filling sandbags at city-run sites to protect homes from flooding.
“It is critical that we all take this storm seriously and begin preparing immediately,” said Baton Rouge Mayor and President Sharon Weston Broome, urging residents to stock up on three days’ worth of food, water and essential supplies.
A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for seven remote coastal communities by the Cameron Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. They include Holly Beach, a laid-back area dubbed Louisiana’s “Cajun Riviera” where many homes are built on stilts. The storm-ravaged town was a cheap haven for oil workers, families and retirees, and has been rebuilt several times after previous hurricanes.
On Grand Isle, Louisiana’s last inhabited barrier island, Mayor David Camardelle urged residents to evacuate and ordered the mandatory evacuation of recreational vehicles. The hurricane Ida decimated the town three years ago, destroying 700 homes.
Authorities warn that flooding, accompanied by high winds and power outages, is likely in the region starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing through Thursday.
In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents to prepare to shelter in place. “It’s time to finalize your storm plans and prepare, not only for your families, but for your neighbors,” she said.
City officials said they expected up to 6 inches of rain, gusty winds and isolated tornadoes, with the most intense weather expected to hit New Orleans Wednesday and Thursday.
Rainfall in northern Mexico on Monday flooded more than a dozen neighborhoods in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, forcing schools to close Monday and Tuesday. Marco Antonio Hernandez Acosta, director of the Matamoros Water and Drainage Commission, said the Mexican federal government was expected to provide pumps to drain the affected areas.
The storm is expected to remain off the coast of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas through Tuesday, before making landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday.