Hurricane Francine Hits Louisiana Coast, Strengthens to Category 2 Storm

Washington, D.C.— Hurricane Francine made landfall on Louisiana’s coast on Wednesday, intensifying into a Category 2 storm with winds reaching up to 100 mph, according to a report by *The Washington Post*.

Areas like Chauvin, Dulac, and Cocodrie saw widespread flooding, with videos and images circulating on social media showing rising water levels as the storm approached.

The National Hurricane Center reported that Francine hit southern Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish at 5 p.m. Central Time. The landfall site was approximately 30 miles southwest of Morgan City.

This is the third hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year, following Hurricane Beryl’s impact on Matagorda, Texas, on July 8, and Hurricane Debby, which struck Steinhatchee, Florida, on August 5. Francine is expected to bring additional force as it progresses deeper into Louisiana later Wednesday night.

In preparation, the city of New Orleans issued a shelter-in-place order by 11 a.m. Wednesday, warning residents to stay off roads. Terrebonne Parish, directly in the storm’s path, implemented stricter measures with a curfew starting at 8 a.m., accompanied by a mandatory evacuation for residents in low-lying coastal regions.

Learning from the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ida in 2021, which left southern Louisiana without power for two weeks, local leaders devised a solution to avoid a repeat of such a crisis. “Community lighthouses,” solar-powered stations equipped with backup batteries, have been proposed as a means to stabilize the area after future storms. These hubs would provide emergency shelter, power for electronics, air conditioning, and refrigeration for medications during extended outages.