Hurricane Francine has officially made landfall in Terrebonne Parish as a Category Two hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of close to 100 miles an hour. It is moving exactly northeast at 17 miles an hour. LRN Meteorologist Bill Jackerman says this should be the peak of the storm.
Cut 28 (13) “…the storm weakens.”
GOHSEP spokesman Mike Steele says many trees were weakened by last year’s drought and it could lead to more trees and limbs falling on power lines…
Officials are urging you to stay off the roads to allow emergency crews to do their work.
Now that Francine has made landfall, we’re starting to see more and more power outages. Statewide, I’m seeing that almost 40-thousand people are without power. Not all of them from the hurricane, but the bulk of the power outages are concentrated in the coastal parishes of southeastern Louisiana. Almost ten-thousand in St. Mary Parish and more than seven-thousand in Terrebonne Parish, where Francine made landfall.
St. John the Baptist Parish is in the path of the storm. It’s seen its fair share of damage from previous hurricanes. Parish president Jaclyn Hotard says her biggest concern with Francine is flooding…
Cut 12 (09) “…heavy rainfall.”
Hotard says with the storm expected to move through the state quickly, she’s confident that issues will be limited to localized street flooding. St. John the Baptist Parish is bordered by lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas.