Hurricane Francine disrupted oil industry and roared ashore in Louisiana with high winds, flooding

Hurricane Francine powered ashore bringing high storm surge, heavy rainfall and powerful winds that knocked out power to half a million customers.

Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on Wednesday evening, Sept. 11, 2024. The storm brought wind gusts over 100 mph, storm surge of more than 4 feet and nearly a foot of rain to New Orleans.

Francine is the third hurricane to strike the United States in 2024. After strengthening to a Category 2 storm just before landfall, it was the strongest storm to hit the U.S. this hurricane season. Hurricane Beryl slammed Texas on July 8, and Hurricane Debby struck Florida on Aug. 5; both were Category 1 storms at landfall.

Video from AccuWeather journalists showed wind damage and flooding near landfall, damaged buildings in Dulac, Louisiana, and flooding in Jackson, Mississippi.

Francine knocked out power to more than half a million customers, nearly 400,000 in Louisiana alone, on Thursday morning. By Friday morning, the number of people without power had decreased to 125,000, but Terrebonne Parish, where the storm made landfall, remained 80% without electricity.

The storm hit a very remote area in the wetlands of Louisiana, causing less storm surge and wind damage at the coast. However, high winds continued to knock out power as it moved inland, and the heaviest rain fell around New Orleans. No injuries were reported.

AccuWeather issues preliminary damage estimate for Hurricane Francine

AccuWeather's preliminary estimate for Francine's total damage and economic losses stands at $9 billion. This figure includes a mix of flooding damage, power outages and impacts to the oil industry.

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter notes that because of Francine's path through the Gulf of Mexico, many oil platforms were forced to cease operations ahead the storm — a business interruption included in that $9 billion figure.

Fortunately, Francine has been less costly than other recent storms this year. Here are some damage totals in billions of dollars.

Francine comes after an unusually active few years for Louisiana hurricanes

Francine's landfall comes during an unusually active period for tropical storms hitting Louisiana. The Associated Press reported that some families hadn't fully recovered from recent storms when Francine hit.

Hurricane Ida hit the state in 2021, killing 30 people and causing $18 billion in damage. Between 2019 and 2021, Louisiana had eight tropical storms or hurricane landfalls, including hurricanes Delta, Laura and Zeta in 2020.