Tens of thousands in the dark as Hurricane Francine strikes Louisiana with 100 mph winds

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Hurricane Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening as a dangerous Category 2 storm that knocked out electricity to roughly 190,000 customers and threatened widespread flooding as it sent a potentially deadly storm surge rushing inland along the Gulf Coast.

Francine crashed ashore in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) southwest of Morgan City, the National Hurricane Center announced at 4 p.m. CDT. Packing maximum sustained winds near 100 mph (155 kph), the hurricane 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 the hurricane quickly flooded streets, snapped power lines and sent tree limbs crashing down.

“It's a little bit worse than what I expected to be honest with you,” Cockerham said of the onslaught. “I pulled all my trucks back to the station. It's too dangerous to be out there in this.”

TV news broadcasts from coastal communities showed waves from nearby lakes, rivers and Gulf waters thrashing sea walls. Water poured into city streets and neighbourhoods amid blinding downpours. Oak and cypress trees leaned in the high winds, and some utility poles swayed back and forth.

Power outages in Louisiana topped 190,000 hours after landfall, spread widely across southeast Louisiana. Blackouts affected the majority of homes and businesses in coastal parishes nearest where the storm came inland as well as their inland neighbours, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

Sheltering at her mother's home just outside Morgan City, Laura Leftwich said blasts of wind had swept away two large birdhouses outside. She had a generator powering an Internet connection so she could video chat with friends, holding her computer to a window to show them water overflowing in the street.

If the storm had been any more intense, “I wouldn't have the guts to look outside,” said Leftwich, 40. “It's a little scary.”

The National Hurricane Center urged residents to stay sheltered overnight as the hurricane churned inland. The storm's projected path included New Orleans, where forecasters said the storm's eye could pass through.

The sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, strengthening to a Category 2 storm with winds exceeding 96 mph (155 kph) hours before landfall.

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