Francine weakens moving inland from the Gulf Coast after hurricane winds cause power outages

Francine has weakened to a tropical storm after slamming into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, causing widespread power outages and sending a dangerous storm surge rushing into coastal communities. The National Hurricane Center predicted the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season will weaken further on Thursday to a tropical depression as it moves northward across Mississippi. Francine made landfall Wednesday evening with 100 mph winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Louisiana and dumping heavy rains around the state, including in New Orleans. Heavy rains and possible flash floods are in the forecast for Mississippi as well as parts of Alabama, Georgia and west Tennessee.