Maps show Hurricane Francine's path and forecast

Hurricane Francine made landfall Wednesday evening along the Louisiana coastline, threatening some communities still recovering from a particularly destructive hurricane season four years ago. President Biden has authorized an emergency declaration for Louisiana to support the state's response to the storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced.

The storm made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, as a Category 2 storm, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm's intensification overnight in the Gulf of Mexico triggered new hazardous weather alerts as far as the Florida border, although forecasters warned that consequences would mainly impact Louisiana, where "life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions" were being felt along the coast Wednesday afternoon. At 5 p.m. EDT, the hurricane center said Francine had strengthened into a Category 2 storm, meaning it had maximum sustained winds of at least 96 mph.

The storm is now expected to rapidly weaken after moving ashore as it travels inland.

Maps released by the National Hurricane Center illustrated Francine's forecast as the storm gained strength and moved toward the Louisiana coast.

As of 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, Francine's center was about 40 miles west-southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and about 100 miles west-southwest of New Orleans, the hurricane center said. It was moving northeast over the Gulf of Mexico at 17 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, with higher gusts.

Although the storm meandered earlier in the week, Francine has steadily picked up speed since Tuesday and started to turn toward the U.S. Gulf shoreline. Following a significant period of intensification overnight and into the morning, the center of the storm was forecast to hit the Louisiana coast before moving into Mississippi Thursday.

Watches and warnings have been issued for much of coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as various parts of coastal Texas. A hurricane warning is in place for the Louisiana coast from the Vermilion/Cameron Line eastward to Grand Isle, with a hurricane watch in effect for metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.

Tropical storm warnings were also in effect for a stretch of the Louisiana coast from Cameron to the Vermilion/Cameron line, and from Grand Isle eastward to the border between Alabama and Florida. Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain, including New Orleans, were under a tropical storm warning as well.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings are activated when conditions typically associated with those weather events are imminent. Watches are different from warnings, which the hurricane center will issue for areas where severe weather conditions could possibly arrive within a couple of days.

The hurricane center reported that "damaging and life-threatening hurricane-force winds" were forecast for portions of southern Louisiana Wednesday, and there was also the "danger of life-threatening storm surge for the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines."

Francine was forecast to bring heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding to parts of eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, southern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle through Thursday.

Storm surge warnings were in effect for the Louisiana coast from Cameron east to the Mississippi-Alabama border and included Vermilion Bay, Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain. A coastal flood warning was ordered for the length of the Alabama coast, including Mobile Bay, Wednesday morning, replacing a storm surge watch issued earlier for the same region.

A coastal flood warning means "moderate to major coastal flooding is occurring or imminent," the National Weather Service writes , noting that this degree of flooding "will cause serious risk to life and property."

If peak storm surge and high tide happen together, water levels from Burns Point to Port Fourchon, Louisiana, could rise between 5 and 10 feet above ground levels, the hurricane center said. Levels could reach 4 to 7 feet from Port Fourchon to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and 3 to 5 feet from Cameron to Intracoastal City near Vermilion Bay. Places along the Gulf coast from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the border of Alabama and Florida could see storm surges between 2 and 4 feet, according to the forecasts.

A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation in the watch area within 48 hours, and a warning means it could happen sooner.

Francine was also expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain on southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, far southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday night, forecasters said, adding that up to a foot of rainfall could accumulate in certain areas. There was a risk of "considerable" flash flooding and urban flooding because of that, especially if storm surge linked to Francine compounds the tide to inundate coastal places.

Flooding risks were highest for large sections of southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans and the rest of the delta, and a strip of southwestern Mississippi, including the vast majority of the coast.

Forecasters said a few tornadoes could also materialize Wednesday and Wednesday night, possibly in parts of southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.