(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Francine is threatening Louisiana with dangerous storm surge and flooding as the state braces for landfall Wednesday afternoon or evening.
The storm has caused some offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to be shuttered, though it will likely miss major natural gas export plants. Coastal areas, particularly in the eastern part of the state, were bracing for the impact, with a hurricane watch in effect for metropolitan New Orleans.
“Life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds” are expected to begin in Louisiana later Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 4 a.m. Houston time. The storm is about 245 miles (395 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, with top winds of 90 miles per hour.
Francine is set to pummel the region with heavy rains, along with the risk of “considerable” flash and urban flooding in the coming days, the center said. Storm surge in some coastal areas could reach 10 feet (3 meters). After making landfall, the system is forecast to move across Mississippi on Thursday.
Earlier forecasts that Francine would reach Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale have been revised downward. Still, the Category 1 hurricane will likely cause $2.7 billion in damage and losses, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. There is a chance it will weaken as it comes ashore, which would drop losses to about $1 billion. Francine would be the third hurricane to hit the US mainland this year.
The hurricane is expected to bypass liquefied natural gas facilities clustered around the Texas-Louisiana border, including Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass terminal.
Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Plc are among companies that have taken measures like evacuating workers from vulnerable installations, suspending drilling activities and shutting in some wells. Federal officials said the total amount of shut-in oil represented nearly a quarter of current crude production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eight Gulf Coast refineries lie in the storm’s path. Residents near Exxon Mobil’s Beaumont, Texas refinery were warned to shelter in place and seal doorways, in case of a gas release from the plant.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency as Francine approached. The US Coast Guard declared ‘Port Condition Yankee’ at key Texas ports on Tuesday, a warning that rough weather is expected within 24 hours. Louisiana’s Port Fourchon also began emergency evacuations.
One upside to Francine as it moves ashore is that it will bring much-needed water to the parched Mississippi River, where low water levels have threatened to roil shipments of everything from corn to gasoline. But rains will make field work harder, delaying harvests and reducing grain quality.
The hurricane center is tracking two other disturbances in the central Atlantic Ocean with the potential to become tropical storms. Both are hundreds of miles from populated areas.
--With assistance from Tarso Veloso, Cedric Sam, Kevin Crowley, Christopher Charleston, Mitchell Ferman, Stephen Stapczynski, Sing Yee Ong and Ruth Liao.
(Updates throughout with details of latest advisory.)
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