As Hurricane Francine approaches the Gulf Coast, its powerful winds are about to start lashing against Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
The Category 1 hurricane, which upgraded from a tropical storm on Tuesday, is expected to batter the Gulf Coast with intense winds of up to 100 mph, heavy rain, and powerful storm surges, leaving some regions "uninhabitable for weeks or months."
These powerful tropical-storm-force winds are due to hit the coast of Louisiana just before 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday, before swooping across the state and hitting the Mississippi border by about 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) map shows.
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Hurricane Francine was about 150 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, as of 10 a.m. local time, with wind speeds approaching 90 mph.
"Reports from Air Force Reserve and NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] Hurricane hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected before landfall," the NHC said in a public advisory.
"Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km)."
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Tropical storm-force winds range from 39 mph to 73 mph, with wind speeds of 74 mph or higher being classified as hurricane-force. Hurricane-force winds are significantly more destructive, capable of causing widespread damage to buildings, infrastructure, and vegetation.
Large swathes of the Louisiana coastline are under a Hurricane Warning, while the rest of the state, as well as parts of the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines, are under a Tropical Storm Warning.
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These intense winds are warned to cause "catastrophic wind damage," with residents being advised to urgently complete efforts to protect life and property.
"Structural damage to sturdy buildings, some with complete roof and wall failures. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Damage greatly accentuated by large airborne projectiles. Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months," the National Weather Service warns.
Additionally, large trees are expected to snap or be uprooted, and roads made impassable due to debris.
In the areas under the Hurricane Warning and Tropical Storm Warnings, dangerous flash floods are also forecast, with as much as 12 inches of rain being predicted in some regions.
"Francine is expected to bring storm total rainfall of 4 to 8 inches, with local amounts to 12 inches across southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, far southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday night. This rainfall could lead to considerable flash and urban flooding," the NHC said.
Additionally, hazardous storm surges are forecast, with many areas under a Storm Surge Warning, bringing as much as 10 feet of water flooding into coast communities.
The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide," the NHC said.
As Francine moves inland, it is expected to quickly weaken, with wind speeds dropping down to 35 mph by Thursday evening.
"The hurricane is not expected to continue strengthening through landfall, but will continue to pose a significant risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds to locations in the warning areas. Once inland, Francine is expected to rapidly weaken, quickly lose tropical characteristics, and transition to an extratropical cyclone over northern Mississippi," the NHC said in a forecast discussion.
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