“Frances hit Louisiana as a hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm: flooding, flight cancelations and power outages in the state

Tropical storm Frances has caused flash flooding in southern Louisiana in the United States, making roads impassable and causing power outages that left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity, UNN reports, citing CNN and The Washington Post.

Details

Late Wednesday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an update at 10 p.m. local time that Frances had weakened to a tropical storm after first making landfall in Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish as a Category 2 hurricane and then bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to the state as a Category 1 storm. Now, "rapid weakening is forecast," the center said, noting that the storm is expected to move more slowly in a north-northeasterly direction over the next few days and become a tropical depression by Thursday evening.

The storm was the first hurricane to hit Louisiana since 2021 and the third to hit the United States this year, the largest since 2020.

Here are the latest updates:

- Frances is losing momentum as it moves through Louisiana. It is expected to move across west-central Mississippi into the Mid-South on Thursday and Friday. "Life-threatening storm surge, significant flash flooding and urban flooding, hurricane-force winds, and tornadoes are expected along the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of the Alabama coast," the National Weather Service said.

- Flooding in the New Orleans area: The US National Weather Service reported that the New Orleans area received about 15-20 cm of precipitation and a flash flood emergency was briefly declared for the area on Wednesday evening, meaning potential catastrophic damage and life-threatening conditions. A less severe flash flood warning was later issued for the New Orleans metropolitan area, which was to remain in effect until 1:45 a.m. local time on Thursday. Although no more precipitation is expected early Thursday, the area has already been hit by flash flooding, the weather service said. In St. James Parish, where 10-15 cm of rain fell, officials urged residents to stay indoors as flooding from Frances inundated homes. And in Jefferson Parish, officials urged residents to stay home and stay off the roads as "heavy flooding in the streets" created dangerous conditions. Elsewhere, residents of Morgan City were asked to stay home due to "unusual flooding volume.

- Strong winds also hit the region, with tropical storm warnings in effect early Thursday morning along the southern swath of the Gulf stretching from Intracoastal City in Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border, according to an NHC advisory issued at 1 a.m. local time. Heavy rains and gusty winds spread across New Orleans, with sustained winds of 59.5 km per hour and gusts of 75.6 km per hour recorded at Lakefront Airport.

- At least 26 people rescued from flooding: Efforts were launched in Lafourche Parish in the evening to rescue 26 residents trapped in flooded homes, according to a statement from the sheriff's office. Most of the area is without power, and a curfew will remain in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday morning local time, officials said.

- Damage to trees and infrastructure reported: Several parishes along the Louisiana coast reported downed trees and power lines as Frances battered the area with damaging winds. Terrebonne Parish, where Frances made landfall, faced power outages and trees were downed, said Chief Public Information Officer Robbie Lee. There were reports of flooded streets and downed trees in Lafourche Parish, where more than 25,000 power outages were reported, the public information officer said. In St. James Parish, located a little further from the coast, power lines were down, several transformers exploded and a carport flew into the roadway, the sheriff's office said in a message on X. Jefferson County officials urged households to limit water consumption as the county's large and outdated sewer system was overwhelmed by stormwater runoff.

- Thousands of people are experiencing power outages, with more than 392,000 utility customers without power at about 3 a.m. local time on Thursday, reports PowerOutage.us. Some areas in the southern part of the state experienced power outages affecting more than half of the utility's customers, including Terrebonne, Lafourche, Sault Ste. Marie, and Assumption. AT&T and T-Mobile customers "across a large area" also had problems contacting 911 services for some time, but the problem now appears to have been resolved, the city of New Orleans reported on social media Wednesday evening.

- Tornadoes are also possible: Several tornadoes are possible Wednesday evening in parts of southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. A tornado warning has been issued for these areas, which will remain in effect until 6 a.m. local time, the Storm Prediction Center said. On Thursday, the risk of tornadoes will spread to other parts of Alabama, southwest Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. 

- Total rainfall in the South: Flood warnings are in effect for more than 10 million people in the southern United States. Francine is expected to bring total rainfall of 10 to 20 cm, with up to 30 cm in places in southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle by Thursday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.

- Frances could trigger life-threatening storm surge: Storm surge warnings are in effect for the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines, from Pearl River, Louisiana to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This week, evacuation orders were issued for several communities along the Gulf Coast, mainly due to the risk of storm surge.

- The storm is impacting airports and colleges: Airlines canceled all flights from Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on Wednesday, with some additional cancellations made as of Thursday morning local time, according to a status update on the airport's website. The airport is monitoring conditions but will remain open "unless conditions become unsafe." Individual airlines will decide whether to cancel flights based on weather conditions in the area, the update said. Transportation problems also arose when a Carnival cruise that was scheduled to return on Thursday was delayed due to Frances, the cruise line said in a statement on Tuesday. Due to severe weather, several Louisiana universities and colleges, including Louisiana State University, Nunez Community College, and Tulane University, closed their campuses or switched to remote classes this week due to Frances.