Tropical-storm-force winds and heavy rains have begun spreading inland and conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate through the day as Hurricane Francine continues its path through South Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center says in its latest advisory.
The storm, expected to make landfall near Morgan City as a category one hurricane this afternoon, is currently located 200 miles southwest of New Orleans and was sustaining winds around 92 mph around 2 p.m., with peak gusts of 112 mph. Baton Rouge remains under a hurricane warning from the National Weather Service.
Ready to respond once the storm passes are hundreds of workers with the Federal Emergency Management Association, Louisiana Illuminator reports. More than 500 personnel with FEMA, Urban Search and Rescue and other federal agencies are currently in Baton Rouge, Alexandria and Roseland in Tangipahoa Parish. In Baton Rouge, officials have staged 29 FEMA generators.
Most government agencies and several businesses in the Capital Region suspended services on Wednesday in preparation for the storm—including delivery service DoorDash. See a list of closures from WAFB-TV.
Livingston has implemented a dusk-to-dawn curfew for Wednesday night, when the storm is expected to be at its worst, WBRZ-TV reports. Parish President Randy Delatte told WBRZ-TV to expect downed trees and powerlines, as well as three to seven feet of flooding in low-lying areas.
Despite forecasters predicting this year’s hurricane season would be unusually busy, Francine is the first hurricane to form in four weeks—breaking the longest pause in tropical storm formation since 1968. As The Wall Street Journal writes, unexpected weather patterns offset warm ocean temperatures and favorable winds that were supposed to create a blockbuster hurricane season.
