Francine made landfall yesterday around 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, as a Category 2 hurricane before weakening to a Category 1. A state of emergency is in effect statewide and in Mississippi, with a shelter-in-place order in effect for New Orleans following the end of evacuation windows. See live updates here.
The storm's center has been traveling north (see map). Officials are also bracing for possible tornadoes and the risk of storm surge (see 101). Today, the storm is expected to continue on to Mississippi, with flood warnings extending to Florida. Roughly one-quarter of the Gulf Coast's oil and gas production has been shut down; the region is responsible for 15% of domestic oil production.
Louisiana has witnessed some of the strongest hurricanes in US history. Among 57 documented storms was Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,390 people in 2005 when levee failures left 80% of the city underwater. See an interactive timeline of that storm here.
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