US: Heavy rains batter Louisiana as Hurricane Francine makes landfall

Hurricane Francine made a landfall on the Louisiana coast, strengthening into a Category 2 storm on Wednesday (local time), according to The Washington Post.

Images and videos circulating on social media showed flooding and rising water levels in places including Chauvin, Dulac, and Cocodrie.

At 5 p.m. Central time, Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, southern Louisiana, which is 30 miles southwest of Morgan City, according to the National Hurricane Center.


It was a Category 2 storm with winds reaching 100 mph at its strongest.

Francine is the third hurricane of the year to make landfall in the United States, after Beryl on July 8 near Matagorda, Texas, and Debby on August 5 near Steinhatchee, Florida. Francine adds one more surge of strength as she moves into Louisiana's coastline on Wednesday night, according to The Washington Post.

With sustained winds reaching 100 mph, it is now a Category 2 storm.

Following the two-week power outage in southern Louisiana caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021, leaders of the town pledged to ensure that a similar tragedy should not happen again. They came up with the idea of "community lighthouses."

According to The Washington Post, the communities would be stabilised in the wake of a storm by the solar-powered outposts with backup batteries.

They would serve as emergency shelters for as long as necessary, giving people a place to charge electronics, get air conditioning, and store medications.

In New Orleans, residents were told to stay off roads and shelter in place by 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Whereas, in Terrebonne Parish, about an hour southwest of the city and more directly in Francine's projected path, officials implemented a parish-wide curfew beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Moreover, a mandatory evacuation order was also called for residents living in the parish's most low-lying coastal areas.