when it's going to arrive and what it's going to do after it comes across the shoreline there in the northern Gulf uh but first we're here in New Orleans and New Orleans is a city that understands storms I'm Justin Michaels the rain has been falling now for several hours the winds are beginning to pick up as the storm gets closer and closer uh to the Crescent City that's where we are the pump system here is fully functional of the 99 pumps in this city 90 are functioning right now they can turn several more on in an mergency situation and that is a very good thing remember New Orleans is below sea level it's kind of like a bowl any water that goes into that bowl kind of like your cereal bowl filled with milk if the milk goes in if the water goes in it fills up that's the same thing without the pumps we would have a major problem the pump system is robust and it's working that's a very good thing schools have been closed today and tomorrow possibility of them opening up on Friday sorry for you kids out there but that is the goal for the school district here in Orleans parish and also a shelter has been set up other resources are available the National Guard was seen on 90 moving in this direction of course that's always a good thing to see those men and women coming they are here to do nothing but help and you can see the map there you don't have to have a trained meteorological eye to say hey it's raining and it's going to keep raining as Francine gets closer and closer to the Louisiana coast and remember it's not just Louisiana it's into Mississippi it's Alabama it's Florida it's to the West into Texas much of the northern Gulf Coast dealing with this storm today let's talk right now to Katie Bodwin she is the president of the Orleans Parish School Board Katie it's so good to see you and thank you for joining us here live on the Weather Channel the rain is falling right now it's ebbing and flowing we know the storm is continuing to get closer you are the president of a School Board of a district that has 40,000 kids that means 40,000 families as well how are they preparing so far um as far as we know everybody has been listening to local authorities which we're very appreciative of um everyone is hunkered down they are ready um for whatever comes our way later today and into tomorrow morning um we're just going to sit it out and wait and see what happens like you mentioned schools are closed today of course they'll be closed tomorrow um tomorrow after the weather uh passes and things are safe we'll have staff go out they'll check our buildings um assess any damage if there is any hopefully we will be able to welcome our students back to school on Friday um either way we will stand ready to assist any um any districts or any neighbors and neighboring parishes um that may have been uh worse affected do anything we can to help them uh recover through this and make sure that their students continue to learn as well board president bod when in years past and in storms past your schools turned into shelters even really offering a level of help and housing for people uh in situations that were likely going to be a lot worse then than this storm is going to bring even though this storm is certainly not here yet it can certainly pack a wallet uh so uh the school district is ready when you are preparing students it's different to talk to adults what what do what is the school district tells students ahead of a storm how do you help kids prepare of all ages a lot of is trying to make sure that everyone isn't scared that students aren't scared and that they know that um the people in charge know what they're doing and that they should listen and uh stay safe and not take risks that they shouldn't be taking um try to get their reading in on the days that they're out of school um and mostly to listen to to the adults and look for people who are in charge and and know that they know what's what to do in the event of emergency it's interesting New Orleans and Louisiana in general the mutual Aid that is offered and actually written into state law is pretty remarkable because storms are part of life here and different districts different parishes different cities all depend on each other other to get through these storms that's right and um our schools our buildings have been hardened we have new buildings across the city that are really um built to withstand kind of weather and worse um and so that is why we will be prepared uh on Friday to help anyone assist anybody that needs to be in years past we have served as um distribution sites for food um we have uh opportunities to House people cool people if necessary if they're extended power outages um but we always do stand ready to assist anyone who needs additional help k b when we appreciate you being here with us live on the Weather Channel yes and thank you for what you do for all of our kids we do appreciate that as well thank you so much much uh so uh a lot of preparation goes into a storm and remember if you think about the forecast of the last several days it kept moving East and East and East and East and some people were saying here in New Orleans and in Lafayette and other communities that they kind of had to do a race job at the end to really get prepared but one thing this state and this city and so many other even much smaller cities and communities in Louisiana can do is prepare for a storm they know what they're doing and that is something that has been done looking at the rain falling right now looking at the American flag up there uh in Jackson Square Park it's blowing uh we have seen it as stiff as a board because the gusting winds over off the ground have been pretty intense there for a while and Mike we know for certain that that rain and those winds are certainly going to pick up Mike important to note for all the uh uh Travelers in town all the people who are here to enjoy this city they don't call it home but they call it home for a temporary period the airport is not closed it is open but all flights have been cancelled so that means some people might have to sleep at the airport it's a nightmare scenario but if you're trying to get out of here and maybe your hotel has no more availability because so many people are stuck you have to believe people might be sleeping in the airport but Mike it's important to remember all flights canel at least through tomorrow morning and I'm hoping Justin with the with the quickness of this system that maybe we can get some flights back online as soon as tomorrow that would be my hope