Drew Dixon
As Tropical Storm Francine is expected to strengthen to a hurricane and slam Louisiana on Wednesday morning, the Gulf Coast will get some help from the First Coast of Florida.
JEA officials say they are about to send some crews to Lafayette, Louisiana, to provide restoration assistance after the storm has passed.
A hurricane warning is in effect along the Louisiana coast from the border with Texas eastward to Grand Isle, about 50 miles south of New Orleans, and a tropical storm warning extended eastward from there to the mouth of the Pearl River, according to the National Hurricane Center. A storm surge warning stretches from just east of Houston to the mouth of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans. Such a warning means there is a chance of life-threatening flooding.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents “not to panic, but be prepared” and heed evacuation warnings. Forecasters said Francine’s landfall in south Louisiana was expected Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 96 to 110 mph.
While the landfall of the tropical system will hit Wednesday, JEA, Jacksonville’s utility service, will deploy four electric line distribution crews to Lafayette. Those crews will depart from Jacksonville at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The crews will leave from the JEA Southside Service Center off Emerson Street in Jacksonville and the lengthy drive will get them to Lafayette at about the time forecasters say the storm will depart the area.
Louisiana officials are warning residents in that state to take the threat of the storm seriously.
“We do not want people to wait to the last minute to get on the road and then run out of fuel,” Landry said. “We put a lot of information throughout the Summer, throughout hurricane season, so that people can be prepared. The more prepared we are, the easier it is for us.”
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Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
