New Orleans braces for Hurricane Francine; evacuations ordered

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) - Hurricane Francine threatened New Orleans and the wider Gulf Coast as far east as the Alabama and Florida border on Wednesday, shutting down a quarter of oil and gas production in the Gulf while parishes across Louisiana issued evacuation orders.

The hurricane was about 245 miles (395 km) southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana as it crawled northeast packing 90 mph winds, according to an advisory by the National Hurricane Center. The storm was a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

Early on Wednesday morning, the U.S. National Weather Service warned that conditions were expected to deteriorate throughout the day as the hurricane threatened some coastal areas with 9-foot storm surge.

"Make sure you have all preparations rushed to completion ASAP!," the service said on X. "Then, prepare to hunker down & shelter in place through the overnight hours."

The service issued storm surge watches or warnings along the entire Gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm that was due to make landfall just west of New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon, warning of torrential rainfall, damaging winds, and possible tornadoes.

U.S. President Joe Biden also declared a federal state of emergency for the state in order to expedite any needed relief or rescue efforts.

Several parishes, or counties, on or near the Louisiana Gulf Coast issued mandatory evacuation orders, and the state transportation department issued evacuation maps. The city of New Orleans was distributing sandbags at five sites.

While the Hurricane Center expected the storm to max out as a Category 2 before weakening over land with maximum sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph (154 to 177 kph).

Francine was expected to produce rainfall amounts of 4 inches (10 cm) to 8 inches, with local amounts to 12 inches for the central and eastern Gulf Coast through Thursday night, the weather service said.

With the storm passing in a northeastern direction parallel to the Texas coast on its way to Louisiana, oil and gas producers abandoned many of their Gulf of Mexico platforms, taking offline about a quarter of energy production, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Tuesday.

The storm also stands to test liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants recently built in the region, which is home to about 15% of U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output.

Any major storm near Louisiana evokes memories of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas, killing nearly 1,400 people and causing $125 billion in damage, according to a 2023 hurricane center report.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Chizu Nomiyama)