Hurricane Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana, battering New Orleans with heavy rains and gale-force winds and threatening the wider Gulf Coast with a potentially devastating storm surge that prompted authorities to issue evacuation orders for thousands of people.
The National Hurricane Center in the United States said that Francine was accompanied by maximum winds of 120 kilometers per hour.
The Hurricane Center briefly upgraded Francis to a Category 2 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale before making landfall, and even a Category 1 hurricane can cause damage.
A storm surge warning was issued for the entire Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, which the hurricane center described as life-threatening.
About 40% of oil production and half of natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut down on Wednesday.
PowerOutage.us reported that more than 200,000 homes and businesses across Louisiana were without power.
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