"francine" landed in the gulf of mexico in louisiana, usa, and nearly half of the oil and gas facilities were shut down
2024-09-12
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
beijing, september 12 (xinhua) -- hurricane francine made landfall in southern louisiana, the united states, on september 11, temporarily disrupting power supply to more than 360,000 users. some oil and gas facilities along the u.s. gulf coast were shut down on the same day due to strong winds and heavy rains.
a palm tree sways in strong winds in morgan city, louisiana, the united states, on august 29, 2021. xinhua news agency (photo by nick wagner)
strong landing
the national hurricane center of the united states said on the 11th that "francine" quickly strengthened into a category 2 hurricane that day and made landfall in terrebonne parish in southern louisiana at 5 pm local time. "francine" brought strong winds of more than 155 kilometers per hour, and may bring a storm surge of more than 3 meters and more than 300 millimeters of rainfall to parts of louisiana.
in morgan city, about 50 kilometers northeast of where francine landed, emergency department director alvin cockrum said that the heavy rains brought by the hurricane quickly flooded the streets, and the strong winds broke down power lines and blew down trees. "frankly speaking, the situation is worse than i expected. we parked all the fire trucks in the garage. it's too dangerous to leave the cars outside in this situation."
data from the national power outage information network showed that power was once cut off for more than 360,000 households and commercial users in louisiana.
louisiana governor jeff landry announced on the 10th that louisiana has entered a state of emergency.
landry said the louisiana national guard will go to multiple areas affected by francine with food and water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters.
a huge wave hits the shore behind a man in new orleans, louisiana, the united states, on september 15, 2020. xinhua news agency (photo by wei lan)
wide spread
the u.s. national hurricane center said in its latest advice late on the 11th that "francine" has weakened into a tropical storm after landing, and may weaken into a tropical depression later on the 12th.
according to the louisiana government website, considering the impact of "francine", primary and secondary schools and universities in baton rouge, the capital of louisiana, have been notified to suspend classes until the 13th. local media reported that several communities in the baton rouge area imposed a curfew from 6 pm on the 11th.
the oil and gas production in the u.s. along the gulf of mexico coast was disrupted by francine. according to regulatory data, nearly 39% of oil and about half of natural gas production facilities were shut down on the 11th, and a total of 171 production platforms and three drilling platforms had their staff evacuated.
the national hurricane center previously predicted that francine's path could include new orleans, the largest city in louisiana. according to the forecast, the entire gulf coast of louisiana and mississippi could be hit by storm surges.
according to rating agency moody's, more than 78,000 commercial properties are within francine's transit path, with a total market value of approximately $143 billion.
francine is the sixth named hurricane of this year's atlantic hurricane season. it draws a lot of energy from the superheated waters of the gulf of mexico. louisiana is low-lying and one of the areas most affected by hurricanes in the united states. according to the u.s. weather channel, 57 hurricanes have hit or made landfall in louisiana since the 1850s.
the landfall of francine evoked painful memories of hurricane katrina, which hit new orleans and other places in 2005. in august 2005, katrina made landfall in louisiana, breaking the seawalls of new orleans, killing more than 1,300 people in the affected areas in the southern united states and causing $125 billion in losses.
source: xinhua news agency
editor: liu juan
second trial of yang tao
the third trial of pang bo
