Francine Weakens Moving Inland From Gulf Coast After Hurricane Winds Cause Blackouts

HOUMA, LOUISIANA – SEPTEMBER 11: Emergency personnel travel through town during Hurricane Francine’s arrival on September 11, 2024 in Houma, Louisiana. Hurricane Francine has been upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane and continues to make landfall along the Louisiana coast.Weather analysts are predicting 90mph winds near the eye and a strong storm surge along the coast. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Francine has weakened to a tropical storm after slamming into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, causing widespread power outages and sending a dangerous storm surge rushing into coastal communities. The National Hurricane Center predicted the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season will weaken further on Thursday to a tropical depression as it moves northward across Mississippi. Francine made landfall Wednesday evening with 100 mph winds, knocking out power to more than 275,000 customers in Louisiana and dumping heavy rains around the state, including in New Orleans. Heavy rains and possible flash floods are in the forecast for Mississippi as well as parts of Alabama, Georgia and west Tennessee.