Tropical Storm Francine, which formed and strengthened on Monday (09.09.2024) in the Gulf of Mexico, is set to make landfall this week as a hurricane in the southern US state of Louisiana, where evacuation orders were quickly issued in some coastal communities, while residents began filling sandbags.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), Francine is located off the coast of Mexico, about 235 kilometers south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande and 690 kilometers south-southwest of Cameron, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour.
Francine, the sixth storm of the current Atlantic hurricane season, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in the coming days before reaching the northwestern U.S. coast, the NHC forecast.
The storm was already being felt in Mexico, where torrential rains forced schools to close as the storm gathered strength in the Gulf.
Authorities ask “not to panic”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents “not to panic, but to be prepared” and heed evacuation warnings.
Forecasters said Francine was expected to make landfall in southern Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 155 to 175 kilometers per hour.
“We don’t want people to wait until the last minute to get on the road and then run out of gas,” said Governor Landry.
Residents of Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, began to form long lines to fill up gas tanks and stock up on food. Others
They filled sandbags at city-operated sites to protect their homes from potential flooding.
“It is crucial that we all take this storm very seriously and begin our preparations immediately,” said Baton Rouge Mayor and President Sharon Weston Broome, urging residents to stock up on three days of food, water and essential items.
Hurricane and storm surge warning
The NHC has issued a hurricane warning for the Louisiana coast from Sabine Pass to Morgan City, and a tropical storm warning for Morgan City to Grand Isle, and from High Island to Sabine Pass.
Likewise, for the southern tip of Texas, from Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Storm surge warnings are in effect for Vermilion Bay and High Island, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana.
The storm, which formed after a few weeks of calm in the Atlantic basin, is moving north-northwest at 7 kilometers per hour (4.3 miles per hour) and is forecast to accelerate on Tuesday as it turns northeast.
Francine is expected to produce up to 12 inches of rain in parts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, and raise sea levels by as much as 10 feet (3 meters) above normal in Cameron and Vermilion Bay, Louisiana.
jc (efe, ap)
