Last night, Louisiainans experienced floods, wind and power outages as Francine swept across the state. It made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with winds as high as 100 mph before being downgraded to a tropical storm. 

Today, we're assessing the impacts, the damage and the recovery process with our reporters from across the state.

Eva Tesfaye tells us about the strength and path of the storm – and how it compared to what meteorologists predicted. Then she discusses impacts on New Orleans’ sewerage systems and a timeline for water drainage. She also shares insights from state sign language interpreter Daniel Burch who talks about the importance of accessible communication during weather events.

Aubri Juhasz discusses power outages that continue to impact roughly a quarter of New Orleans residents. She also tells us about solar-powered churches and community centers that are currently open to the public and providing resources for those in need. And she talks  about meeting up with bird watchers early in the morning looking for birds that arrived with the storm. 

Drew Hawkins tells us about damage and debris throughout New Orleans and the southern part of the state and shares how residents with disabilities prepared for the storm and what the recovery efforts will look like over the next few days.

And Aidan McCahill joins us from Baton Rouge to discuss the extent of the damage in Louisiana’s capital. Aidan visited a senior center and a shelter for unhoused people to learn how residents and workers braced for Francine. And he lets us know how residents felt this storm compared to the city’s last major flood events in 2016.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Bob Pavlovich. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

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