Tracking Hurricane Francine | Forecasting with Friends

hours in Louisiana for a lot of people. And you know, we are on the clean side of this storm or the dry side, but we are still seeing some local impacts. So we'll get into all that in just a few minutes. But we want to bring in a friend, miss Brandy Campbell, who is live in Baton Rouge this morning. Brandy, you have moved since we last spoke a little bit earlier. How are things looking out there right now? Well, things haven't progressed too much since we spoke with you guys earlier in terms of the weather worsening in our area, if anything, we are actually getting some rainfall. But it's very light, so you guys probably can't see it on camera. Let's go ahead and take a look though at what you can see behind me. We are just next to the Mississippi River. You can see the bridge overhead and at this point we still have a lot of people on the roads. I'm seeing a lot of utility trucks crossing over there, likely mutual aid coming in town to help out. But even, you know, people out working, a lot of 18 wheelers still out and about. So hopefully these folks will eventually get off the roads once this storm does really close in on this area, but just downtown. We can also see a view of this area as well. Not a ton of activity just locally here in this area. And again, we're not seeing any of the major impacts in terms of wind. The trees aren't really moving at this point. And again thankfully the rain not too heavy. But we know we are forecasted to be on the northwestern side of the eye of Francine. So we are expecting to see a lot of heavy rainfall and we could get wind gusts up to 70mph. Now Baton Rouge Mayor President Sharon Weston Broome signed a parish wide emergency declaration ahead of Francine to allow them to free up some resources so they did allow residents to get sandbags. Yesterday they opened two shelters and they've done prep on the city's end. So assessing their waterways and even clearing storm drains and basins. And they're also prepared to remove any fallen trees. She just stated that her biggest concern is safety for her residents, but she's also saying that the city is prepared. Schools, of course, are also closed down for today and tomorrow. One school that's kind of doing things differently is LSU. They do have school virtually, so students will still be put to work. On the other hand, folks at home, they're still getting prepared. I did call some of the hardware stores to see how are things looking when it comes to residents trying to prepare, trying to get their flashlights, or maybe their NOAA radios just to make sure you're ready. If the power goes out? I heard they are busy, unfortunately. And of course, some of them are closing down. Earlier I called one. They said they just closed down, but they were selling out of things like generators and such, but said some people were coming by today buying grills and propane. Propane tanks, just pretty much preparing for the power to go out guys. Randy, thanks for that report. I was going to ask you, did you hear from anybody? Because you know these the forecast track always shifts a little bit to the left or to the right. And I know maybe a couple of days ago, maybe it didn't look like Baton Rouge was going to be as close to the center of circulation. And now the newest advisory basically shows the, you know, the center moving like right over the city, so I wonder if folks are maybe, you know, caught off guard a little bit by that. I don't know if they're caught off guard. I feel like a lot of people are actually just, you know, adjusting for the changes that are happening in terms of, you know, the gas stations being sold out because folks are realizing, you know, we need to take this seriously and getting things water. So shelves are being cleared. So I think it's more of an adjustment happening here. And I have had some friends tell me they've heard of some people evacuating out of town to just going off of the impacts that we are expecting. But yeah, it is pretty amazing to see. Yeah, that track just slowly shifting east. And now we're going to be on the west side of the eye. And I heard you say earlier that you're actually from Louisiana, that you have family here. You know, what is your family doing to stay safe? I bet you're in very close contact with them. Of course. Yeah. Just got off the phone with my mom not too long ago. I'm from New Orleans. I have a lot of family in that town. And also up north of New Orleans in Slidell. And most of my family, they are staying home and they're just going to ride out the storm. And you know my parents, they have a generator. They're ready. My grandma said you know she has her light her little canteen thing to, you know, have some light if the power goes out. But they're just hoping power doesn't go out. And, you know, even my boyfriend's family, they're a little older. So they decided to actually get out of town. So it's a mix of how people are reacting to the storm. Yeah. And power is a big thing. Obviously we know with Beryl that folks here in Houston lost power for a week plus. So hopefully we can keep things at bay for everybody in Louisiana. But hopefully that your family staying safe and glad you got to give them a little shout out this morning. I bet you they are constantly texting Brandy, constantly wanting updates on where it's going. All right, well hey, all the best. All the best to your family down there in Southeast Louisiana. Thank you so from that live report. So you know, we mentioned, yes, huge impact in Louisiana. Some impact here. Not that huge of a deal, but we are experiencing a little bit of it. Yeah. I mean, being on the west side of the storm. No, we're not getting super direct impacts, but those outer rain bands, we have to remember this is still a tropical system. And with those big old raindrops, that means if one does set up overhead, you know, probably could be seen a lot of rain. Really no severe threat for us. It's always the east side of the storm is where we could be seeing that tornado risk. But hey, we're way far west, so really not something we're looking at. But the coast, the coastline. Yes, we've had big waves along our coastline. One of the areas that's right in the path. Our Shelby Rose made her way from Lafayette down the road to Morgan City, Louisiana, which is also sort of right in the path of where this storm is expected to make landfall, and an area with a big threat for flooding. So I think we do have Shelby that we want to check in with down there, right on Vermilion Bay in the path of what could be a nasty area of storm surge. Hey. Yes. Good I guess. Is it afternoon now? I've lost track of time. It's been such a long morning, but. So. Yeah, we just got to Morgan City about 20 minutes ago. Been driving around, kind of checking out the area as we were driving down here. Actually Mike and Allison, the only cars that were coming down 90 into Morgan City were news vehicles as well as the Louisiana National Guard. We saw so many trucks with water rescue boats coming into this area. I mean, you could just see all the businesses right here that have been boarded up. We see so many sandbags all over the area, but the reason why these businesses have sandbags and they're boarded up, because right over here we're going to get in the rain. So put my hood up. This is the Atchafalaya, lower Atchafalaya River. So this feeds into the Gulf of Mexico. This right here is an entire floodwall. I mean, look at how absolutely massive it is. We're trying to stay right there to kind of give you guys a look. I mean, I'm a tiny person, but it is an incredible floodwall. And, I mean, this is not even the first one that they've had here. They have a little bit of a history over here that kind of explains that this is an area that is definitely no stranger to flooding, no stranger to hurricanes of this magnitude. And so, as you can probably tell, it's raining, but it's not that bad. Everyone here is hunkered down. We do know that Morgan city officials, they have implemented an 11 a.m. curfew so that curfew is now in place. So the only people that we see driving around are essential workers. So we're talking people going to and from work as well as police, law enforcement. And we are considered essential workers. And so we are among those. And so just a lot of news crews, a lot of storm chasers and stuff like that. So we're going to be hunkered down here trying to find a safe spot because Morgan City is not necessarily the biggest city in Louisiana. We're trying to find some parking garages or kind of some safe spots. So Mike and Allison, if you have any good actual recommendations, that would be awesome. I know mask recommendations on air right now, but that would be awesome to find a good, safe space for us to be, to kind of hunker down and ride out this storm. Well, guys, we will do that. I think I was in Morgan City once, but I yeah, parking garage just away from. Isn't it funny though? It's all the folks are the residents are not there. It's all news crews and storm chasers. Oh gosh. The adventure is. And also, by the way, shout out to Shelby and photographer editor because you guys were on the morning news and then you had to spend your day driving over there yesterday, like your whole afternoon. And evening, spend the night wake up first thing in the morning. It's like the life of a reporter, you know, covering things like this. So yeah, be safe. And I'm sure we'll. Yeah, try to get some rest. If you can. Absolutely. All right. Thanks, Shelby. So it's effects here. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to do a really cool transition I'm going to walk over there and I'm going to am I'm doing local weather right I'm going to walk over there. We're going to talk about the local effects here in the Houston Galveston area. When we check in with Allison in a few minutes, we're going to talk about the latest on the storm, because we did get a recent update and see how the progress of that is going. So this is a look outside right now at the way things are shaping up in New Orleans. So there we are. You'll see the New Orleans Superdome there right in the middle part of your screen. And, you know, of course, they're awaiting the arrival of the heavier rain and the higher winds. But for right now, obviously, it is raining. It's not the prettiest of days there. It's sort of the calm before the storm, I suppose. There with New Orleans. Really? What's going to end up being sort of on that afternoon, right on that right side of the circulation, on that dirty side of the circulation. All right. Well, let's take a look at what's happening here locally. What are the effects. Not much. So actually this wind advisory, you know what looks like that's been dropped. It was actually just dropped because we haven't had those winds really gusting high enough to justify the advisory. The concern was that if the storm was close enough to us, that we would have winds of, you know, maybe gusting to 35mph. That hasn't come to fruition. Now. It is breezy, no doubt. Galveston's breezy very often, as you know, wind out of the North about 17mph. And in the city of Houston right now about 10 to 14 miles an hour. By the way, the temperatures are great out there, 79 degrees, cloudy and breezy. We still do have a coastal flood warning that's in effect now. Earlier this morning, Denise Middleton was here, Jamaica Beach, where there was some water that was from the storm surge that had come up and was underneath, you know, the homes that are up on stilts and actually blocked the roadway, or at least was covering part of the roadway. So moderate flooding at the beaches very strong rip currents do not get in the water today. And about a two foot storm surge, by the way, that particular advisory is in effect until 4 p.m. today in the red you see out here is the tropical storm warning that's in effect over the water, but not for us on land, as far as what's happening right now, really just coastal effects and now some scattered showers that have popped up, sort of an outer rain band forming there. Even though the center of circulation. Francine is very far away from us. The winds are starting to pick up a little bit on land. We have been sort of awestruck by some of the off shore observations. So this is an oil platform that's located in this. The Gulf is broken up into sectors like where they explore for oil drill for oil. This is called East Cameron. 321 A and anyway, the rig that's located at that particular spot is measuring 100 mile per hour winds. Now that is well above the surface. You know, because these are tall things. It's about at an elevation of about 100ft. I think maybe a little higher than that, but still 100 mile per hour winds. I mean, this thing means business. And then elsewhere on the side of the circulation that's headed toward places like Houma and Thibodaux and New Orleans and Slidell, 55 miles an hour, 64 miles an hour. New Orleans is up to about 30mph, 31mph. So that's one risk is the wind. Second risk will be storm surge, which we talked about. And then also heavy rain. This is the excessive rainfall threat. What about us? We are not in the area of the excessive rainfall threat. Although as Allison mentioned a couple minutes ago yeah we could have some downpours. When you get into these tropical kind of environments, you can get those big fat raindrops and some heavy downpours, just for example, you know, we have one ongoing right now in northern Liberty County. But really across the rest of the area, it is sort of light rain and drizzle, which by the way, also is holding the temperatures down, which I think a lot of you probably like. So we have some light rain crossing the Brazos River down there around Greatwood and the Sugar Land area, and then farther off here into northeastern Harris County. We have some showers coming down right along the Eastex freeway. So if you're around the East End or downtown Houston, it's just getting ready to move on in. So here's our outlook for the day today. It will be windy at times along the coastline, breezy with some scattered storms. Notice here how the futurecast does show some of those hit and miss showers and storms for the day. And then of course we will, you know, closely monitor and hope for the best for our friends over there in Louisiana. And Mississippi. By the way, the effects of Francine here today will be just coastal. As far as what's happening inland. High temperature. We might not even hit 85. 85 is being a little bit optimistic, but I think we're probably looking at around that area of, you know, temperatures like low to mid 80s, a little bit breezy, 50% rain chance once we get past today, most likely the sunshine is going to come back and it's actually going to get pretty hot with low 90s each afternoon here taking us through the weekend and early next week. All right. For the specifics of Hurricane Francine, let's check in over in the Weather Center with Allison. Hey, Mike. Well, just want to let you know, I was actually just googling spots for Shelby to go be safe at. So we've texted her and let her know, because we want to make sure that she's going to be riding out the storm in a very safe fashion. Now, I want to take you out to just how many miles the center of the storm i. Or really, the leading eyewall is from coastal Louisiana. And you guys, I've been showing this throughout the morning, and we are now about 70 miles away. Now, I will say it's going to be the point that is most in the Gulf, if that makes sense. So we're not talking something inland like New Iberia, but you can see about 70 miles away, meaning a few things. There's not a ton of real estate left for Francine to really pick up any more steam to strengthen. Now, it's still definitely a possibility, right now we're looking at 90 mile per hour sustained winds. You can see an advisory came out at 11. So the thing is, as storms get closer to making landfall, they do hourly updates because they want everybody to know along the coast, hey, this has happened. Maybe it's shifted a little bit, whatever the deal is. But everything looks pretty similar to the 10:00 advisory. So things showing that likely going to be a category one at landfall. Moving right over Baton Rouge. We just talked to Brandy Campbell, who is live there and is going to be riding this storm out. And the thing is, it's going to decrease pretty quickly as it moves inland. Tomorrow morning, tropical storm over Mississippi and then making its way north, passing Memphis as a tropical depression if not a remnant low. But it's really going to be several things that we're watching out for along coastal Louisiana storm surge, which could be as high as 5 to 10ft, but also the bands of heavy rain. So not only is it water that's being pushed on shore, but it's also water that's going to be falling from the sky thanks to the inland turn that it will be making. So right along the coast and all the way up to Baton Rouge and even portions of Mississippi. Here they could be seeing upwards of 5 to 10in of rain. I know some models were showing potentially maybe a foot in total. New Orleans is going to be right on the outer edge of that. And then again, the further west you go, Lake Charles, and then even out toward us here in southeast Texas. Not much in the way of really any accumulation. And like we've been talking about, we really don't have that much rain even overhead now. And likely it's just going to be isolated in nature. But I do want to talk about the wave heights, because yes, the center of the storm is still well to our east. But you got to think of a bowling ball and a bathtub. When it slams down, it's going to create a ripple effect. So we're going to be on the western edge of that. Yes. But our waves are going to be really high. It's not until it actually makes landfall and sometime late tonight, early tomorrow that our waves will completely be decreasing. We'll be seeing maybe a lingering effect, even out to the panhandle of Florida throughout the morning tomorrow. Now, I quickly just want to leave you with another update of the tropics. Tropical Depression Seven has formed in the eastern Atlantic, so this is just right off the coast of Africa. And the thing is, it's likely going to be staying at that tropical storm strength through the weekend. This is something obviously we'll be watching, but at least from this latest track, it looks like it's going to be taking maybe a bit more of that northerly curve again. Still, so many days out, but just want to let you know that we are still watching. And like Mike alluded alluded to maybe a little bit earlier, believe it was in the aftershow we were talking with the National Hurricane Center and you know, as of the peak of the hurricane season was yesterday. So we've had six named storms. This likely could be maybe a heavy back end of the season, meaning, you know, that second half, which we are on day one of that could be seen a bit more activity. So stick with us, we'l. It's forecasting with friends. We brought in another friend, Melissa Wilson. Well, I hope you're all able to take a break and take a little breath because you've been so busy trying to figure out what's going on, figure out the path of the storm. We dodged it. This one, this one. But big sigh of relief. But you just feel so bad for everybody who's having to deal with it. Because we know too well, don't we, what that feels like. And our hearts. It just hurts to think about what they're having to deal with. Do you know? Well, this actually just occurred to me. So this is the sixth named storm of the year. Five have made landfall in the Gulf Coast. This is the third hurricane landfall on the Gulf Coast. So we had one hit Texas, one hit Florida. And then the other one is going to hit Louisiana. Not what we want to be a magnet for. No, seriously, somebody unseal the magnet, toss it in the Gulf and make it go away. I know, yeah, I mean, the waters are just so warm. It just seems like everything is ripe here. But yeah, you look at seasons past and there's a lot that kind of just missed Florida and go out, but that really hasn't been the case. But the fact that we are only now on what is tropical Depression seven. They had seven seven storms. Yeah. And it's the day after the peak of the hurricane season. Yeah And remember the predictions were for like 20 storms, 23 storms, 25 storms. So it's interesting to see like, are we going to have an eruption in October or something. I mean, what because it doesn't appear that there are a few waves out there. We just got TD seven this morning, but it's not like things have really exploded yet. So I don't know if it's just going to end up being a really weird season. That would be nice if this was about it and we were wrapping up, but it doesn't seem like there's that much in October. Usually. Usually, yeah. You did. You gave me a date. It's not a great number. Usually October 15th for Texas. It shuts off and it's over. Yeah. I think the latest hurricane strike on record was the 15th. And the latest tropical storm strike was like the 17th now. Yeah. Things change. Yeah. There's always some crazy thing that can happen. But but in general, once you start getting the front like fronts and the. Yeah the water starts to cool down and the wind, you know, the steering currents start to shift. Then it sort of shuts off the season. So we just have to hold on for about another month. Please Five weeks. Is that about how long it takes for the for the ocean to actually cool off is more October because, I mean, I know you can't compare obviously a tiny pool to that, but my pool is eight degrees cooler right now than it was. You know, two weeks ago. I can't believe it. It's small. I know, but I can't believe that that body of water could cool that much because it hasn't been that cool. Really. I know a lot of rain, but rain takes about a month. Yeah, rain will cool, just like you know. But you know how, like, after it rains, the pool gets cold, so it's it happens to the surface of the ocean. And with Francine is going to be mixing up the water. So it's not going to be quite as piping hot because some of those cooler waters down below get mixed back up. So yeah, hopefully that will save us for a little bit we hope. But yeah, very odd. I mean, it could be worse. You know, there was some concerns that this thing was going to undergo this sort of explosive strengthening, you know, before landfall. And fortunately it doesn't look like it's going to do that unless something just bonkers happens. Just running out of room over the next 5 or 6 hours. You know, they sort of dodged that too, which is, you know, any hurricane is bad. But, you know, if you're going to choose between a category one and a four, you know, obviously, you know, it will take. So yeah, it's, one of the hazards of living in Paradise. Yeah. It is, it sure is. Yeah. It's a good way to put it, so what else do you want to talk about? Well, we only have 30s friends. Oh is that right? Yeah. Very long. Oh, we only have 30s. Yeah. Oh, because we have to take another break before the final break, but then you can join us back here on Fox 26 News at noon. That's right. For more. Yeah. Well, just getting warmed up for you. Yeah. So just praying for everybody in Louisiana. Yeah. You know, Brandy Campbell's family I know. And hopefully Shelby and Eddie find a safe place to hunker down. I already sent him a pin. Oh. You did? Yeah Oh, nice. That was smart. Well, yo