The worst may be over for Francine. Now comes the task of getting the lights back on and cleaning up the mess it left behind. Francine was downgraded to a tropical storm at ten o’clock tonight, with its maximum sustained winds decreasing to 70 miles an hour. As of that advisory, the storm was located about 35 miles west-northwest of New Orleans and was moving northeast at 16 miles an hour.

The storm has plunged hundreds of thousands of customers into darkness. The number of customers who lost power has steadily increased throughout the night; at last check, that number is now approaching 375-thousand. Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May says manpower is more than quadrupled, and they’re ready to get to work.

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May warns that fully restoring power to everyone could take several days.

With hundreds of thousands without power, many are relying on generators until electricity is restored. Sean Richardson has some safety tips.

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There was a daring rescue that unfolded on live television. A driver went around barricades at the Canal Street Bridge in New Orleans, and his pickup truck went underwater. A good Samaritan broke a window and pulled the man out just before the truck became submerged.