Hurricane Francine leaves power outages, flooding in its path

Members of the Brown family stand on the corner of Polk Street in Houma while waiting for law enforcement after losing their power Sept. 11, 2024, during Hurricane Francine. ( Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

As Hurricane Francine made its way through southeast Louisiana, it left behind a broad swath of power outages Wednesday night that has forced some residents to ride out its worst effects in the dark.

Even as the Category 2 storm weakened, Francine’s rains flooded several parishes with some residents needing rescue.

More than 441,000 utility customers across southeast Louisiana were without electricity as of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, according to FindEnergy.com . Power restoration crews have had to wait until winds are less than 30 mph before beginning repair work.

Entergy Louisiana reported more than 292,000 customers without power across its entire service area . Its New Orleans subsidiary had more 49,000 customers lacking electricity, according to its outage map .

Outside of New Orleans, FindEnergy.com showed Jefferson Parish with the highest number of outages (66,369), followed by Lafourche (36,702) and St. Tammany (33,286).

The power problems have been compounded in Jefferson and Orleans parishes, where officials say electricity has been knocked out to sewer lift stations. Without the ability to move effluent, raw sewage could flow back into homes, and officials have asked residents there to limit the amount of water they flush and send down the drain.

Jefferson Parish emergency contractors are dealing with the severe weather conditions as they attempt to provide temporary power to the lift stations and vacuum out those that are full. The waste will be taken in tanker trucks to a sewage treatment plant.

In New Orleans, the Sewerage and Water Board asked consumers to conserve water and limit use of appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers.

“It is critical that we don’t place added stress on our system as we work to bring it back to full capacity,” S&WB executive director Ghassan Korban said. “We will be using generators and other equipment to provide additional functionality to support our system.”

Flooding was reported in several parishes, with Francine dumping 8 inches rain or more in some areas. Rising river levels on the North Shore are expected to threaten the usual low-lying areas.

In Lafourche Parish, the sheriff’s office reported rescuing several families from high water. More than two dozen people were taken from flooded homes in Thibodaux by early evening, with more rescues there and in Kramer reported. The entire parish remained under a curfew until 10 a.m. Thursday to allow first responders to clear roadways.

Officials in St. Charles Parish and St. John the Baptist reported water in homes, some of which also dealt with flooding three years ago from Hurricane Ida.

Gov. Jeff Landry will taken by helicopter to inspect some of the worst damage Thursday afternoon, flying over St. Mary Parish on his way to Houma, where he’s expected to spend 90 minutes on the ground. He will then fly back over Lafourche Parish to inspect the storm’s impact.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX