Francine became a hurricane on Tuesday evening as it barreled toward southern Louisiana, strengthening over extremely warm Gulf waters as those in possible harm’s way rushed to complete storm preparations, filling sandbags, buying gas and stocking up on necessities for an expected landfall in the coming day.
Residents, especially in south Louisiana, have a 24-hour window to “batten down all the hatches”, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry warned at midday while Francine was still a tropical storm.
The freshly minted category 1 hurricane packed top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and forecasters warned it was expected to crash ashore Wednesday afternoon or evening in Louisiana with a potentially life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds – perhaps even as a category 2 storm with winds of 96 to 110 mph (155 to 175 kph).
Ahead of the storm’s approach, lifelong New Orleans resident Roxanne Riley, 42, gathered water, snacks and other food from a Walmart and said she planned to stay at a family member’s house on high ground to avoid flooding. But she was ready to evacuate if things got worse.
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