Francine slams Southeast; most of New Orleans without power: Live updates

Powerful Hurricane Francine muscled its way inland Thursday, its winds ratcheted down to tropical depression status but still a dangerous storm pounding heavy rain across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle.

Over 400,000 homes and businesses were without power early Thursday, hours after the center of the storm crashed onto shore in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, as a Category 2 storm driving 100-mph winds. The winds diminished, but the unrelenting downpours turned streets into rivers as Francine lashed New Orleans.

The waters were beginning to recede in some areas, while others could see a foot of rain by the weekend, the National Hurricane Center warned.

Francine's maximum sustained winds decreased to 35 mph Thursday as the center of the storm slid over Mississippi. But the danger of "life-threatening" coastal storm surge remained a major concern from the sixth and strongest storm of the hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said.

"As the sun starts to rise this morning, DO NOT go sightseeing," the National Weather Service office in New Orleans tweeted Thursday. "Stay where you are today! Rescuers and emergency response professionals still need to do their jobs this morning! Don't make their jobs harder or more dangerous!"

Flash flood emergency for New Orleans:Francine pounds Louisiana

Developments:

∎ A few tornadoes were possible Thursday, mainly from the Florida Panhandle to north-central Alabama.

∎ The center of Francine was forecast to move over central and northern Mississippi through early Friday.

Ports begin to reopen in Texas

Crucial oil and fuel export ports from south to central Texas reopened Thursday after being shuttered ahead of the storm. Corpus Christi, the largest oil export port by volume, lifted restrictions, while ports in Freeport, Houston and as far north as Sabine reopened, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Louisiana ports including Cameron, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and sections of the Mississippi River remained closed, the Coast Guard said. The closures were affecting energy, agricultural and metals exports.

The Gulf accounts for about 15% of all domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, according to federal data.

Franklinton resident helps elderly and disabled after storm

William Riley's home in Franklinton, Louisiana, 70 miles north of New Orleans, survived the storm without even losing power, so he decided to turn his energy toward helping others recover. Riley, 31, posted to social media that his road had cleared and he was available to help elderly or disabled people in the area free of charge.

"I'm just kind of reaching out to everybody," said Riley, 31. "If I don't get any phone calls, I'm going to just go right around to see if I see anybody that needs help."

Riley owns a marine construction business, so he's well-equipped with useful tools, such as excavators, skid steers and chainsaws. And helping people, especially those in need, has always been important to him.

"A lot of people just don't have the extra money to have a tree that's blocking their driveway or on their house or cars (removed), and then insurance takes so long," he said. "If there's ever a time to help people, it's after a natural disaster."

Most of New Orleans without power

The French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans, a tourist mecca where streets and sidewalks are routinely jammed with revelers, was locked down Thursday with a noticeable police presence and very few pedestrians. The rain had stopped falling when David Blaszak woke up around 6 a.m. Thursday, and he saw downed branches and traffic signals out on his way to work. At Mary’s Ace Hardware, where Blaszak is the general manager, customers came as soon as the store opened at 8 a.m. to buy small parts and tools for home repairs, Blaszak told USA TODAY.

“People are coming in for little repair pieces and gas cans, for their generators,” said Blaszak, 67.

The power mostly remained on in the French Quarter on Thursday morning, even though it was out in most of the city, Blaszak said. The French Quarter's electrical infrastructure is underground and less susceptible to storms. But Blaszak’s home in the nearby Marigny neighborhood lost power Wednesday night and it still wasn’t on Thursday, he said.

“The power issue is the biggest thing, the inconvenience, particularly down here not having air conditioning,” he said.

− Claire Thornton

Francine halts classes − but not always learning

Hundreds of schools were closed Thursday across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Many also were closed Wednesday, and some won't reopen until next week. In New Orleans, classes were canceled for almost 50,000 public school students for a second straight day Thursday − and Friday was in doubt. District officials posted a notice on the schools' website saying they would assess the impact of the storm Thursday and determine when schools could reopen.

Schools in East Baton Rouge were also closed Wednesday and Thursday, but to limit learning disruption the students were given assignments via Chromebooks or printed packets. Students were asked to complete the work "to the best of their abilities." Students who lose internet access because of the storm will be provided makeup opportunities, district officials said in a note to the schools community.

"Transitioning to remote learning structures will minimize learning loss and decrease in-school makeup time," the note said.

Louisiana storm recovery could take months

Louis Ruffino has a heavy workload ahead. The Amite City, Louisiana-based owner of a hurricane recovery service expects to put in 18-hour days for the next two weeks after Francine passed over the area, leaving a trail of destruction.

"We'll have a lot of work today, mostly tree and debris removal," he told USA TODAY early Thursday morning. "We'll have some sheetrock removal from where some homes and businesses got flooded."

Ruffino said he's already seen some damage from the storm. "There are some businesses whose roofs came off," he said. "There are several homes with trees in them, and there's lots of fences down."

He expects total recovery from Francine to take around four months, as compared to the year and a half his team worked after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Despite the damage and power outages, the local community has seen worse, he said. "While concerned about the storm, they've been through many, many storms."

"I think that they felt that they would be okay," he said.

Up to 12 inches of rain possible in some areas

Francine is forecast to bring up to 6 inches across parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Localized amounts up to 12 inches were possible in central and northern Alabama and over the Florida Panhandle.

The rain could lead to locally "considerable flash and urban flooding," hurricane center said.

New Orleans area faces sewage issues amid storm

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans was struggling with power outages and other issues, and residents were urged to conserve water. Officials in nearby Jefferson Parish also urged residents to limit water usage because of the "aging sewer system," according to parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng. She said the parish received numerous reports on Wednesday about residents who were unable to flush their toilets and manhole covers that were bubbling up.

“The system is getting overwhelmed,” Sheng said at a Wednesday news conference. “The water has nowhere else to go and it’s getting backed up.”

Parish officials advised residents to avoid activities such as washing dishes and doing laundry in an effort to minimize overloading the sewerage system. Officials added that the parish has over 500 lift stations with more than 1,800 pumps working to keep the system down. 

“Crews are working diligently and out investigating sewer backups now; however, they will be off the streets once the winds reach 35 mph,” the parish said.

Douse that candle, turn on that flashlight

The National Hurricane Center has tips for dealing with power outages. Among them:

• Use flashlights, not candles.
• Turn flashlights on before entering buildings to avoid producing a spark that could ignite leaking gas.
• Keep portable generators outdoors at least 20 feet away from doors, windows and garages to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Make sure portable generators are properly grounded and not overloaded.
• Drink bottled or boiled water because purifications may not be working.

Hurricane season may be heating up

Francine isn't the only storm on the map: Forecasters are also tracking four other disturbances across the Atlantic, which now appears to have fully woken up from its recent slumber. This isn't surprising, as this week is the typical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

While none of the systems are an immediate threat to land, all bear watching for potential tropical development, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

The four systems range in location from a system just off the U.S. coast to a tropical depression far out to sea near Africa. Tropical Depression Seven, which is in the eastern Atlantic, is expected to reach tropical storm status soon and will be named Gordon.

Why – and how – do hurricanes get names?

Before hurricane forecasters started naming storms, they had to refer to storms by saying something like "the storm 500 miles east-southeast of Miami." But six hours later, the storm's position would change. Also, when more than one storm was going on at the same time, making it clear which storm was being described made the job even harder.

In 1953, the U.S. began using female names for weather systems once they became a tropical storm − sustained winds of at least 39 mph. By 1979, male and female names were being used, and the names alternate between male and female.

There are six lists of names in alphabetical order, and they rotate each year so names used this year will come back around in 2030. There are no Q, U, X, Y or Z names because of the lack of usable names that begin with those letters. And the names of some extremely deadly storms, such as Katrina, have been dropped.

Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Reuters