The hurricane center’s forecast track suggests Francine will stay on a slow north-northwest path through the morning, then turn more to the northeast and pick up speed. It will move just offshore of the Mexico and south Texas coasts today and make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Francine is nearing hurricane status as it charges toward the Gulf Coast, where some Louisiana communities have already begun to evacuate and slam closed their floodgates in anticipation of the storm’s likely landfall there on Wednesday.

The storm could drive life-threatening coastal flooding, high winds, drenching rain and a few tornadoes, forecasters said.