Heavy rain, gusty winds expected in Memphis due to Hurricane Francine
Memphis could see up to four inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Francine. (National Weather Service-Memphis)
Although Hurricane Francine will become a tropical depression by the time it lands in the Mid-South, heavy winds and gusty winds are expected.
Todd Beal, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service-Memphis, says the impacts are expected Thursday and Friday.
The potential path of the storm. (National Weatther Service - Memphis)
In Shelby County, the NWS-Memphis predicts 3-4 inches of rain through Friday morning. Rain is likely after midnight Thursday, with a chance of thunderstorms Thursday morning and afternoon. Heavily rainfall is possible in the afternoon.
“We are not expecting a widespread flooding issue across our area, but that is one thing we will be monitoring,” Beal said.
A wind advisory will be in effect for parts of East Arkansas, North Mississippi and West Tennessee from 9 a.m. Thursday until 1 a.m. Friday.
During the advisory, winds from 20-25 miles per hour and gusts up to 40 mph are expected.
NWS-Memphis warns that the winds could blow around unsecured objects and that downed tree limbs may result in power outages.
Counties in the advisory include Shelby and Fayette counties in Tennessee; DeSoto County in Mississippi; and Crittenden and Craighead counties in Arkansas.
In a statement, Memphis, Light Gas and Water said the utility is watching the forecast and is in close contact with the NWS and local emergency agencies.
MLGW said its crews and contract repair crews are on standby for any damage.
“Despite significant progress in our tree trimming and outdated infrastructure replacement, gusty winds above 30 mph combined with heavy rains can saturate the ground and set us up for outages caused by falling trees,” MLGW’s statement read.
MLGW is asking customers to secure outdoor items and store enough nonperishable food and water to last up to three days.
The utility said that crews are prioritized in the following order to restore power outages: hospitals, critical flood control pumps and other facilities with large community impacts; then public safety hazards (such as downed power lines or poles); then areas with large numbers of customers out of power; and finally, scattered, smaller outages.
Outages can be reported on the MLGW app or by calling 901-544-6500.
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Hurricane Francine National Weather ServiceBianca Thedford
Bianca Thedford is from Toomsuba, Mississippi, a small town outside of Meridian, Mississippi. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Print Journalism from Rust College.
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