Tropical Storm Francine formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, becoming the sixth hurricane to hit the Atlantic this season and the first in almost a month, UNN reports citing The New York Times.
Details
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, on Monday, Frances had maximum sustained winds of 104.6 km/h. The storm is expected to become a hurricane on Monday evening or Tuesday morning local time and reach the northwestern Gulf Coast on Wednesday, forecasters said. A tropical storm is upgraded to a hurricane when maximum sustained winds reach 119 km/h.
"Frances will approach the coasts of the US states of Louisiana and Texas on Wednesday and is likely to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday evening, forecasters say. The exact path that the storm will take has not yet been determined, and it depends on when the storm turns to the northeast.
The storm may gradually strengthen on Monday before becoming stronger and faster on Tuesday, likely becoming a hurricane before making landfall.
Weeks of rainfall have saturated the Louisiana coast like a sponge. "Frances could bring up to 20 mm of precipitation, raising concerns about flash flooding in the region. This rainfall could be a problem on the northeastern coast of Mexico, around the Texas coast and in Louisiana, depending on the storm's path.
Storm surge and dangerous surf will also be a concern as the storm intensifies. Forecasters said that as of Monday, the storm surge was not expected to threaten the levees, which should protect most of the region from significant risk, but that some overtopping of local levees could occur.
Shell said on Monday that it is evacuating non-essential workers from two offshore facilities, known as Enchilada/Salsa and Auger, off the Louisiana coast as a precautionary measure. Drilling operations have been suspended at two other sites, known as Perdido and Whale, the oil company said.
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