RIGHT NOW, THE GULF COAST IS BRACING FOR FRANCINE. THE STORM IS GAINING STRENGTH AND IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL LATE WEDNESDAY, LIKELY IN LOUISIANA. LAURA AGUIRRE SHOWS US HOW FAMILIES IN LOW LYING AREAS ARE PREPARING HARVEST GETS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED IF YOU IF YOU GET A LOT OF RAIN AND WIND AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HEADING TOWARD THE SOUTHERN U.S. COAST AS THE LATEST NAMED STORM, FRANCINE GAINED STRENGTH OVER WARM GULF WATERS FROM ARKANSAS. FARMERS HUSTLING TO COLLECT CROPS EARLY INLAND TO LONG LINES AT SOME COASTAL AREA GAS STATIONS. MILLIONS ARE BRACING FOR SEVERE STORM IMPACTS. FORECAST MODELS SHOW. FRANCINE CURRENTLY MAKING LANDFALL NEAR MORGAN CITY IN LOUISIANA SOMETIME WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, POTENTIALLY AS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE. NOW, THE BATON ROUGE METRO AREA IS UNDER THE GUN. COULD BE LOOKING AT STORM SURGE ANYWHERE OF SIX TO EVEN TEN FEET, DEPENDING ON THE TRACK OF THE STORM. LOUISIANA'S GOVERNOR DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY MONDAY AND HAS ASKED FEMA TO ASSIST OTHER MOBILIZING STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCIES. I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT THE ALL OF THE AGENCIES HAVE ACTIVATED THEIR EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS AND PRE-POSITIONING THE ASSETS NEEDED. FRANCINE COULD ALSO SPAWN SOME TORNADOES IN LOUISIANA IN THE DAYS AHEAD, WHILE COASTAL AREAS FROM TEXAS TO MISSISSIPPI COULD SEE UP TO EIGHT INCHES OF RAIN. AS WE ALL REMEMBER, BERYL TOOK AN UNEXPECTED PATHWAY. WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR FRANCINE. HURRICANE BERYL SLAMMED INTO TEXAS IN JULY, KILLING SEVEN PEOPLE THERE AND ONE OTHER IN LOUISIANA. AHEAD OF FRANCINE, OFFICIALS ARE WARNING RESIDENTS TO HEED EVACUATION ORDERS AND AVOID FLOODED ROADS. BE SAFE WITH YOUR OWN LIFE KNOWING THAT YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR OWN SAFETY BY MAKING A DECISION ABOUT WHERE YOU DO AND WHERE YOU DO NOT DRIVE. I'M LAURA AGUIRRE, REPORTING. AND RIGHT NOW, CAM IS BACK WITH US AND KIM. WE ARE ACTUALLY IN THE PEAK OF HURRICANE SEASON. SO, FRANCINE, PRESIDENT SHOULD NOT BE MUCH OF A SURPRISE FOR US. CAM DEFINITELY NOT. IT IS VERY MUCH NOT A SURPRISE AS THE GULF WATERS ARE EXTREMELY WARM RIGHT NOW. LET'S GET YOU THE LATEST ON TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE WITH WINDS OF 65MPH. RIGHT NOW. MOVING NORTHEAST AT NINE. RIGHT NOW, THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION IS SOUTHEAST OF THE RIO GRANDE. BUT LOOK AT HOW THE OUTER BANDS OF THE SYSTEM ALREADY BRINGING IN A WIDE SWATH OF RAIN ACROSS THE LOUISIANA COASTLINE. ALREADY THIS EVENING. TAKING A LOOK AT THE WATER TEMPERATURES IN THE GULF BASIN, YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE EXTREMELY WARM RIGHT NOW IN THE MID 80S. AGAIN, THAT'S ACTING AS FUEL FOR THIS SYSTEM, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE BY TOMORROW MORNING AND THEN MAKE LANDFALL AS OF THE 2:00 ADVISORY AS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE. THERE ALONG THE COAST IN LOUISIANA LATE TOMORROW EVENING, 5:00 ADVISORY SHOULD BE COMING DOWN PRETTY SOON. IF IT DOES, WE'LL GIVE YOU UPDATES, BUT FOR NOW, THOUGH, IT'S EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INLAND AND BECOME A REMNANT LOW. BY THE TIME WE GO INTO LATE WEEK. IN TERMS OF THE IMPACTS, HERE ARE A LOOK AT ALL THE TROPICAL ADVISORIES ALREADY IN EFFECT. AND THOSE TROPICAL ADVISORIES SPREAD AS FAR WEST AS EAST TEXAS. BUT LOOK AT THIS. WE ARE SEEING HURRICANE WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE LOUISIANAA COASTLINE. NEW ORLEANS RIGHT NOW UNDER TROPICAL STORM WARNING. BUT SOME OF THESE ADVISORIES ARE NOW STRETCHING A LITTLE FARTHER EAST INTO ALABAMA. AND EVEN MISSISSIPPI BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL THAT FRANCINE MAY WOBBLE A LITTLE BIT MORE TOWARDS THE EAST. WE'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR SOME POTENTIAL IMPACTS, AS ONE OF THE BIG ONES WILL BE THE RAIN. LOOK AT HOW MUCH HEAVY RAIN WE COULD SEE FROM FRANCINE. THIS IS A LOOK AT THE EUROPEAN MODEL HERE. EASILY SOME AREAS COULD PICK UP A FOOT OF RAINFALL. AS FRANCINE MAKES LANDFALL. I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT OUR LOCAL IMPACTS HERE AT HOME. WE ARE EXPECTING WET WEATHER.