Hurricane Francine slammed into Louisiana Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm but weakened rapidly as it moved inland, sparing Mississippi from the worst of its fury.
By Thursday morning, officials at the National Hurricane Center had downgraded the storm to a tropical depression—the earliest and least hazardous stage of a tropical cyclone.
Still, strong winds and heavy rainfall buffeted Mississippi overnight and continued into Thursday, causing street closures and power outages and creating an ongoing risk of flash flooding.
“Heavy rain is expected to continue through at least this afternoon, so please continue to stay weather aware,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on social media on Thursday morning. He added that no injuries had been reported.
In southern and central Mississippi, state agencies have been working to clear fallen branches and other debris from roads and identify flooded areas that pose a danger to commuters. Several of the streets and highways that experienced flooding along the Gulf coast are now traversable, a Mississippi Department of Transportation spokesperson told the Mississippi Free Press.
“The impacts as far as infrastructure is concerned on the Mississippi Gulf Coast were not nearly as bad as expected,” Anna Ehrgott, a public information officer at MDOT, said on Wednesday.
Ehrgott urged Mississippi drivers to continue practicing caution, reminding them to refrain from using cruise controls while roads are still wet and avoid passing through flooded areas for any reason.
“Always remember: Turn around, don’t drown,” she said.
Over the course of Thursday, energy companies have helped restore electricity to many of the tens of thousands of Mississippians who lost power amid the storm. More than 9,000 homes were still without power as of 5 p.m. Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, but local agencies expect that figure to decrease markedly by the end of the day.
With roads and power mostly under control, flash flooding remains the biggest concern as Francine continues northward, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Allie Jasper said. She noted that over 160 people stayed in emergency shelters overnight.
Flooding is also a worry in Hinds County, an area that has seen repeated inundations and evacuations following sustained rainfall. Sharon Paige, a Jackson resident who was forced to leave her home in 2020 and 2022 after the nearby Pearl River overflowed, said she was grateful that the storm was less severe than some experts anticipated.
“When I looked out the door and saw it was just a little rain, I was relieved,” she told the Mississippi Free Press.
Though Mississippi appears to have escaped the worst of Francine, Jasper advised residents to stay vigilant and prepared in the weeks ahead.
“This is still peak hurricane season,” she said. “Just because this is the first one and we kind of got off easy … doesn’t mean people should let their guard down.”
