Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane that knocked out electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and threatened widespread flooding as it sent a potentially deadly storm surge rushing inland along the Gulf Coast. Despite quickly weakening to a tropical storm, it was packing a strong punch.
Francine crashed ashore in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles southwest of Morgan City, the National Hurricane Center announced at 4 p.m. CDT. Packing maximum sustained winds near 100 mph, the storm then battered a fragile coastal region that hasn’t fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.
Morgan City Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said Francine quickly flooded streets, snapped power lines and sent tree limbs crashing down.
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