Hurricane Francine was roaring through the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana on Wednesday morning, threatening a stretch of coastline scarred by a series of powerful storms in recent years.
The prospect of yet another hurricane bringing heavy rains, strong winds and surging seas sent some residents scrambling to find supplies to ride out the storm and its aftermath, while others in low-lying areas were ordered to evacuate.
Francine strengthened into a Category 1 storm Tuesday evening, and could become more powerful before making landfall in Louisiana as early as Wednesday afternoon. Unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico could potentially serve as fuel for a rapidly intensifying storm, some experts have warned.
Much of the state was under a hurricane warning or a hurricane watch in anticipation of the storm and feet of storm surge. The wariness extended east into Mississippi, which is also expected to face heavy winds and rain.
Danie Ladner, 56, and her husband, Gregory, 67, planned to set up almost a dozen sandbags around the front door of their house in Dedeaux, near Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. They lived there through Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but said they wouldn’t stay if another storm of that strength threatened the area. Katrina came ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi as a Category 3 hurricane, with wind gusts of more than 120 miles per hour.
“We’re not taking this for granted,” Mr. Ladner said.
His wife added, “We don’t ever say, ‘It’s just a 1 or a 2. We’ll be fine.’”
The National Hurricane Center on Tuesday predicted the start of “life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds” in Louisiana on Wednesday. Some areas of the state, such as Vermilion Bay, southwest of Baton Rouge, could see up to 10 feet of surge.
Gov. Jeff Landry, after declaring a statewide emergency, asked President Biden to approve a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana to unlock more government assistance.
In his letter, Mr. Landry noted the number of disasters and storms the state had survived in recent years. The list included three different hurricanes in 2020, two of which went on a damaging path through southwest Louisiana, and Hurricane Ida in 2021. That storm was a Category 4 hurricane that devastated part of the southeast region that is now in the path of Hurricane Francine.
Mr. Biden approved the governor’s request late Tuesday evening.
Mr. Landry and other state officials stressed that preparations were being made in anticipation of storm damage and water surge, but called on residents to take their own precautions and stay in one location if they committed to not evacuating.
The Louisiana National Guard had staged nearly three dozen helicopters, 387 high-water vehicles and 87 boats for search and rescue and evacuation, as well as preparing 1.1 million liters of water, one million ready-to-eat meals and 55,000 tarps.
Local officials in several parishes, the state’s equivalent of counties, closed schools, opened emergency shelters and urged residents not to attempt to venture out until well after the storm had passed.
“Let’s take care of one another and check on one another,” said Cynthia Lee Sheng, the president of Jefferson Parish, adding that she had signed an evacuation order for those in the parish who live outside the levee system to avoid a storm surge.
She also pleaded with residents to be careful after the storm, noting the multiple deaths in the area after Hurricane Ida in 2021: “Give us the time to make this community safe again for you.”
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