Hurricane Francine batters US state of Louisiana, with flash flood emergency issued in New Orleans [Video]

HURRICANE FRANCINE SLAMMED into Louisiana late yesterday with potential for life-threatening flooding and storm surge as residents of the southern US state, which still bears the scars of Hurricane Katrina, were advised to hunker down indoors.

The storm weakened as it moved over land, forecasters said, but it was still causing flooding, power outages and heavy rain and wind. A flash flood emergency was issued for the city of New Orleans.

Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on a five-level scale in Terrebonne Parish on the southern edge of the state at 5pm local time (10pm GMT), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Two hours later the storm was downgraded to Category 1 with sustained winds of 85 miles (140 kilometres) per hour and could bring up to 10 feet (three metres) of storm surge and a foot of rain in some parts of Louisiana, the NHC …