Thousands without power as wind dies down

Powerful Hurricane Francine moved inland Thursday, packing winds close to those of a tropical depression but still a dangerous storm that brought heavy rains to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Nearly half a million homes and businesses were without power early Thursday, just hours after the center of the storm hit the coast of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, with winds of 100 mph. The Category 2 storm was weakening, but relentless downpours turned streets into rivers as Francine barreled toward New Orleans.

By early Thursday morning, Francine’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to 35 mph as the storm’s center moved across southern Mississippi. But the threat of “life-threatening” coastal storm surge remained a major concern after the sixth and strongest storm of the hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said.

“When the sun comes up this morning, do NOT go sightseeing,” the National Weather Service office in New Orleans tweeted Thursday. “Stay where you are today! Rescue workers and emergency responders still have their jobs to do this morning! Don’t make their jobs harder or more dangerous!”

Flash flood emergency for New Orleans: Francine beats Louisiana

Developments:

∎ A few tornadoes were possible Thursday, mainly from the Florida Panhandle to north-central Alabama.

∎ The center of Francine is forecast to move across central and northern Mississippi by Friday morning.

∎ The storm has already impacted energy production and agricultural exports from the Gulf of Mexico. According to the offshore regulator, nearly 39 percent of oil production and nearly half of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico were offline on Wednesday. A total of 171 production platforms and three drilling rigs were evacuated.

New Orleans’ French Quarter neighborhood, a tourist mecca where streets and sidewalks are regularly clogged with revelers, was sealed off Thursday with a heavy police presence and very few pedestrians. When David Blaszak woke up around 6 a.m. Thursday, the rain had stopped falling, and on his way to work he saw fallen tree branches and toppled road signs. At Mary’s Ace Hardware, where Blaszak is general manager, customers came as soon as the store opened at 8 a.m. to buy hardware and tools for home improvement, Blaszak told USA TODAY.

“People come by for small repair parts and gas cans for their generators,” says 67-year-old Blaszak.

In the French Quarter, power was still mostly on Thursday morning, although it was out in most of the city, Blaszak said. The French Quarter’s electrical infrastructure is underground and less vulnerable to storms. But Blaszak’s home in the nearby Marigny neighborhood had no power Wednesday night, and it still hadn’t gone out Thursday, he said.

“The biggest problem is the electricity problem, it’s inconvenient, especially down here where there is no air conditioning,” he said.

− Claire Thornton

Hundreds of schools in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama remained closed Thursday. Many remained closed Wednesday as well, and some will not reopen until next week. In New Orleans, nearly 50,000 public school students were out of class for the second day in a row on Thursday – and Friday was uncertain. District officials posted a notice on the schools’ website saying they would assess the storm’s impact on Thursday and decide when schools could reopen.

Schools in East Baton Rouge were also closed Wednesday and Thursday, but to limit classroom disruption, students received their assignments via Chromebooks or printed materials. Students were asked to complete assignments “to the best of their ability.” Students who do not have internet access due to the storm will be offered catch-up opportunities, district officials said in a message to the school community.

“The transition to distance learning structures will minimize learning loss and reduce the time required to catch up on teaching material in school,” the statement said.

Louis Ruffino has a lot of work ahead of him. The Amite City, Louisiana-based owner of a hurricane recovery service expects to put in 18-hour days for the next two weeks after Francine passes through the area, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

“We have a lot of work to do today, mostly clearing trees and debris,” he told USA TODAY early Thursday morning. “We also have to remove drywall from where some homes and businesses were flooded.”

Ruffino said he has already seen some damage from the storm. “Some businesses have had their roofs ripped off,” he said. “Several homes are under trees and many fences have fallen down.”

He expects the full recovery after Francine to take about four months. By comparison, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, his team worked for a year and a half.

Despite the damage and power outages, the local community has seen worse, he said. “Although they are concerned about the storm, they have experienced many, many storms before.”

“I think they thought they were going to be fine,” he said.

Francine is expected to bring up to 6 inches of rainfall to parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Local rainfall up to 10 inches is possible in central and northern Alabama and over the Florida Panhandle.

The rain could locally cause “significant flash flooding and urban flooding,” the hurricane center said.

The New Orleans Sewer and Water Authority has been dealing with power outages and other problems, and residents have been urged to conserve water. Officials in nearby Jefferson Parish also urged residents to limit water use due to the “outdated sewer system,” according to parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng. She said the parish received numerous reports Wednesday of residents unable to flush their toilets and their manhole covers blistering.

“The system is overloaded,” Sheng said at a press conference on Wednesday. “The water has nowhere else to go and it is piling up.”

Municipal officials advised residents to avoid activities such as washing dishes and doing laundry to avoid overloading the sewage system. Officials added that there are over 500 pumping stations in the municipality with more than 1,800 pumps that keep the system running.

“Crews are working diligently and are currently investigating sewer backups. However, once winds reach 35 mph, they will be cleared from the streets,” the municipality said.

Francine isn’t the only storm on the map: Meteorologists are also tracking four other disturbances over the Atlantic, which now appears to have fully awakened from its recent slumber. That’s not surprising, since this week is the typical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Although none of the systems pose an immediate threat to land, all must be monitored for possible tropical development, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

The locations of the four systems range from a system directly off the US coast to a tropical depression far out at sea near Africa. Read more.

Contributors: Reuters

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