Francine is no longer a hurricane after being downgraded late Wednesday to a tropical depression. The storm is weakening rapidly, after making landfall in Louisiana earlier on Wednesday.
Communities are coping with cleanup and power outages, but forecasters also say that farther inland, the storm still packs a serious threat of flooding.
“It weakens from the traditional wind perspective, but it doesn't weaken from the rainfall perspective,” National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said as he discussed Francine’s path up the Mississippi River Valley.
Even as the hurricane made landfall, Rhome said, flood watches were being declared far from the coast. In Mississippi, the alerts stretched close to the Tennessee border.
Where is Francine now?
In its 10 a.m. CT update, the National Hurricane Center said Francine was about 15 miles north-northeast of Jackson Miss., moving north at 14 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were 35 mph. The weakening storm was expected to slow down as it moved north -- raising the potential threat of flash and urban floods from its rainfall.
How much more rain will it bring?
"Francine is expected to bring storm total rainfall of 4 to 8 inches across portions of Mississippi, eastern Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.” according to the National Hurricane Center. And some areas of Alabama, Georgia and Florida could see up to 12 inches.
"Downed trees & power outages along with flash flooding & minor river flooding have already been reported and are expected to continue," the National Weather Service office in Jackson said on Thursday, as it issued flash flood warnings due to heavy rain.
How many people are without electricity?
People living on the coasts of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are taking stock of damage from the storm -- and as of 10 a.m. CT, some 420,000 electricity accounts were without power.
A breakdown of that total, from the monitoring site Poweroutage.us: 364,000 customers in Louisiana; 35,000 in Mississippi; and 21,300 in Alabama.
How bad is the flooding?
“The highest rainfall totals across the region were 8 to 10 inches,” member station WWNO in New Orleans reports. “Most of that fell in Lafourche, St. John, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.”
Local governments and emergency agencies are still taking stock, but just west of New Orleans, St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell said Wednesday night that people were reporting high water, street flooding and “water in homes across the parish.”
“Most of the parish is over seven inches of rain,” Jewell said, with the majority of that rainfall coming in just an hour and a half. His livestreamed video briefly went dark, as the building lost power.
Emergency teams urged people not to drive on flooded streets, noting the danger -- and saying that doing so also pushes more water into homes.
Where did the hurricane hit?
Francine made landfall about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, La., at around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to the NHC. The storm intensified into a Category 2 storm, with sustained winds nearing 100 mph, just before hitting the town in Terrebonne Parish.
For anyone in the storm’s path, WWNO has a guide to help preparing for a hurricane.
NPR's Kevin Drew contributed reporting to this story.
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