How the Saints are handling Hurricane Francine

Hurricane Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm on Wednesday, with its effects impacting nearly the entire state. 

The New Orleans Saints sent players home early from practice Wednesday in anticipation of the storm's arrival, according to ESPN's Katherine Terrell.

Players and staff did not evacuate the area, like they did in 2021 for Hurricane Ida, instead opting to follow a similar plan to the one it followed in 2020 with Hurricane Zeta.

The City of New Orleans did not issue a mandatory or voluntary evacuation for this storm.

Storm surge in the New Orleans area is expected to reach four to six feet, according to the Weather Channel, with rain totals nearing a foot high in some areas.

"I think we kind of knew early on ... this was going to be a situation that we could manage," head coach Dennis Allen told ESPN Wednesday.

Allen said he and the staff plan on sleeping at the training facility because the time they usually wrap up daily work is the same as when the storm is expected to be at its heaviest.

Quarterback Derek Carr told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that this was the first time since he grew up in Texas that he's personally experienced a hurricane.

He detailed the difficult balance between preparing for Sunday's game in Dallas and being fully aware of public safety.