Francine Blasts Bayou, Tropical Atlantic Awakens

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Hurricane Francine slammed into the Louisiana Bayou this week, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and flooding broad swaths of the New Orleans metropolitan area.

As of this writing, no deaths have been reported in connection with the storm – however a Louisiana State Trooper was injured by a falling tree as he attempted to clear debris in Baton Rouge.

At least 465,000 people were left without power in the aftermath of the storm, including 391,000 in Louisiana, 64,000 in Mississippi and 10,000 in Alabama.

After forming off the coast of Mexico just two days ago, Francine made landfall at around 5:00 p.m. CDT on Wednesday (September 11, 2024) in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, approximately 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City. At landfall, the storm’s maximum sustained winds clocked in at 100 miles per hour (with gusts as high as 115 miles per hour) – making it a category two system on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

The eye wall of the storm collapsed as it moved inland but then re-formed and expanded as it moved past New Orleans and Baton Rouge – crossing the path Hurricane Katrina took on her fateful voyage nearly two decades ago.

Here’s a look at conditions in Morgan City on Wednesday afternoon courtesy of Florida-based weather expert and storm chaster Mike Boylan:

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Some intense winds outside Morgan City in the eyewall. pic.twitter.com/tPQxds0xHS

— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) September 11, 2024

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By 7:00 p.m. CDT, the center of Francine was located at latitude 29.6° N, longitude 90.9° W – or roughly twenty miles east-southeast of Morgan City – and had seen its maximum sustained winds dip to 85 miles per hour. By 10:00 p.m. EDT, the system had moved to approximately 35 miles west-northwest of New Orleans – and had been downgraded to a tropical storm.

While New Orleans and surrounding parishes experienced significant rainfall and flooding, the “hurricane risk reduction” system – an massive, interconnected flood mitigation network erected over the past decade-and-a-half at a cost of $20 billion by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – appears to weathered the storm.

This system of “barriers, sector gates, flood walls, floodgates and levees” was constructed between 2006 and 2018 – in the aftermath of Katrina – with the goal of providing a “veritable ‘wall’ around East Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.”

Did it do its job?

We will keep our audience in the loop as to its status in the aftermath of Francine…

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There is significant damage to this store on W. Park Ave and Saint Louis St. Watched part of the roof peel off in the eyewall. Hate to see it. @NWSNewOrleans #Francine pic.twitter.com/jmNuY3p4y4

— Jessica Moore (@JessicaMooreWx) September 12, 2024

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Meanwhile, the tropics – which have been historically quiet this year – have suddenly sprung to life.

In addition to Francine, Tropical Depression Seven has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, according to forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida. As of 5:00 a.m. AST on Thursday, this system was located at latitude 17.3° N, longitude 33.0° W – or 600 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa.

Depression seven’s maximum sustained winds were 35 miles per hour and it was moving west-northwest at 17 miles per hour. At this point, it’s too soon to stay whether the system – which is likely to become the next named storm of 2024 – will pose a threat to the American mainland.

Closer to home, forecasters were tracking “a non-tropical area of low pressure” off the coast of South Carolina which they said “could form along a residual frontal boundary a few hundred miles off the southeastern U.S. coastline.”

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“Some subtropical or tropical development is possible during the early part of next week while the system drifts to the north or northwest,” forecasters noted, although they currently give this offshore low pressure system a low (30 percent) chance of development.

Even if the tropics explode over the coming weeks, it’s highly unlikely the 2024 season will come close to matching the doom and gloom projections peddled by the purveyors of climate “science.”

As I reported back in February, weather experts issued ominous warnings of a “blockbuster” and “super-charged” hurricane season. NHC forecasters concurred, calling for 17 to 25 total named storms, including eight to 13 hurricanes and four to seven major hurricanes in their official projection in May.

So far there have been six named systems, including four hurricanes and only one major hurricane (Beryl).

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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