Dubai Telegraph - Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana

EUR -
AED 3.865039
AFN 71.961868
ALL 97.885367
AMD 409.705534
ANG 1.898038
AOA 960.733931
ARS 1055.061215
AUD 1.613881
AWG 1.894109
AZN 1.787029
BAM 1.951539
BBD 2.126437
BDT 125.855234
BGN 1.956342
BHD 0.396578
BIF 3110.579445
BMD 1.052283
BND 1.414399
BOB 7.293078
BRL 6.086683
BSD 1.053191
BTN 88.848028
BWP 14.387453
BYN 3.446543
BYR 20624.740218
BZD 2.122845
CAD 1.469502
CDF 3014.78969
CHF 0.929776
CLF 0.037101
CLP 1023.776253
CNY 7.619996
CNH 7.625593
COP 4626.455438
CRC 534.824751
CUC 1.052283
CUP 27.885491
CVE 110.024795
CZK 25.350861
DJF 187.538784
DKK 7.458788
DOP 63.520417
DZD 140.573397
EGP 52.274979
ERN 15.78424
ETB 131.306162
FJD 2.388363
FKP 0.830585
GBP 0.832524
GEL 2.883571
GGP 0.830585
GHS 16.7185
GIP 0.830585
GMD 74.71233
GNF 9078.051459
GTQ 8.13025
GYD 220.338958
HKD 8.189863
HNL 26.613518
HRK 7.506205
HTG 138.346648
HUF 411.186809
IDR 16734.714279
ILS 3.929639
IMP 0.830585
INR 88.911049
IQD 1379.588093
IRR 44293.214291
ISK 145.520299
JEP 0.830585
JMD 166.933965
JOD 0.746386
JPY 162.676061
KES 136.007134
KGS 91.02957
KHR 4249.68174
KMF 491.94202
KPW 947.053999
KRW 1471.222726
KWD 0.323672
KYD 0.877684
KZT 523.167824
LAK 23125.51255
LBP 94319.785398
LKR 306.411046
LRD 190.622024
LSL 19.101997
LTL 3.107117
LVL 0.636515
LYD 5.138732
MAD 10.521031
MDL 19.167154
MGA 4930.189594
MKD 61.546561
MMK 3417.773046
MNT 3575.656436
MOP 8.443666
MRU 41.866002
MUR 48.839087
MVR 16.268296
MWK 1826.195708
MXN 21.380416
MYR 4.698412
MZN 67.293799
NAD 19.101997
NGN 1768.455747
NIO 38.755022
NOK 11.613586
NPR 142.154623
NZD 1.792324
OMR 0.40513
PAB 1.053101
PEN 3.996674
PGK 4.239684
PHP 62.126243
PKR 292.773138
PLN 4.342422
PYG 8247.914831
QAR 3.840515
RON 4.977085
RSD 117.020141
RUB 106.281009
RWF 1452.315514
SAR 3.95054
SBD 8.79238
SCR 14.332083
SDG 632.944958
SEK 11.610939
SGD 1.413951
SHP 0.830585
SLE 23.75528
SLL 22065.84631
SOS 601.88026
SRD 37.282669
STD 21780.126598
SVC 9.214882
SYP 2643.891613
SZL 19.091139
THB 36.458458
TJS 11.216013
TMT 3.682989
TND 3.324243
TOP 2.464553
TRY 36.27081
TTD 7.130433
TWD 34.270209
TZS 2791.031424
UAH 43.426878
UGX 3886.514989
USD 1.052283
UYU 45.021709
UZS 13526.469111
VES 48.861031
VND 26751.65603
VUV 124.929112
WST 2.937543
XAF 654.521833
XAG 0.033884
XAU 0.000395
XCD 2.843846
XDR 0.801343
XOF 654.521833
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.991742
ZAR 19.064031
ZMK 9471.810193
ZMW 29.146091
ZWL 338.834589
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana
Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana / Photo: Brandon Bell - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana

Heavy rains and strong winds hammered Louisiana early Thursday as Tropical Storm Francine moved inland, leaving many residents without power while floods threatened the US southern state.

Text size:

The storm weakened from a hurricane as it moved over land, forecasters said, but it still posed risks and a flash flood emergency was earlier issued for the city of New Orleans.

Local TV stations and footage on social media showed coastal towns battered by the storm, with some streets flooded and locals filling sandbags to protect property from floodwaters.

More than 370,000 customers across Louisiana were without power, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us.

Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on a five-level scale in Terrebonne Parish, on the southern edge of the state, at 5:00 pm local time (2200 GMT), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Hours later Francine was downgraded to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour, with three to six feet (one to two meters) of storm surge, and up to a foot of rain in some parts of Louisiana, as well as areas of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle, the NHC added.

"This rainfall could lead to considerable flash, urban, and river flooding," the NHC said in a bulletin at 0600 GMT.

The National Weather Service's New Orleans office issued a flash flood emergency for the city and nearby districts known as parishes, while New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents to shelter in place.

"You need to be inside right now. Time to hunker down," Cantrell said in a video posted on social media.

In the town of Houma, residents filled sandbags, stocked up on supplies and filled their cars with gas ahead of the storm's arrival.

"We're working hard to stay here as long as we can... to take care of our people," a gas station manager who gave her name as Alicia B. told AFP.

The NHC said the storm is expected to quickly weaken as it moves inland over Louisiana and neighboring Mississippi.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has declared a state of emergency, and on Tuesday requested a federal emergency declaration from President Joe Biden, which he quickly approved.

The Louisiana National Guard said on X that its soldiers were fuelling up vehicles in preparation for the storm. On Tuesday, it said it was mobilizing helicopters, boats and supplies for evacuations and search and rescue.

Schools and universities around the state capital Baton Rouge were preemptively closed until Friday, according to a government website.

Curfews starting as early as 6:00 pm were issued for communities across the Louisiana capital region, local media reported.

Low-lying Louisiana was the site of one of the most devastating storms in US history -- Hurricane Katrina -- which killed more than 1,300 people as it slammed into populous New Orleans in late August 2005.

Katrina overwhelmed the city's levee system and caused extensive flooding.

At the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana is a major US trade hub with a significant part of its economy linked to the oil and natural gas industry.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1 and will end November 30, was expected to be busy but has seen just three hurricanes so far, reportedly puzzling scientists.

Hurricane Beryl became the earliest highest-level Category 5 storm on record after it formed in late June and plowed through the Caribbean, eventually hitting Texas and Louisiana, with dozens of deaths reported in its wake.

Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms, because there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.

J.Alaqanone--DT