BROOKHAVEN — Students in the Brookhaven School District and Lincoln County School District will have school tomorrow as planned. Brookhaven Superintendent Rod Henderson and Lincoln County Superintendent David Martin said they met with Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Reid about the weather risks posed by Tropical Storm Francine.

The storm is expected to strengthen into a Hurricane and make landfall somewhere along the Louisiana coast. It will weaken into a tropical storm by the time it reaches Lincoln County bringing damaging winds and flash flooding.

Henderson said the worst of the weather is not forecast to hit Brookhaven until Wednesday evening.

“Thursday could be in question but a decision on that will be made tomorrow evening,” Henderson said.

Martin issued a statement saying the school district would continue to monitor the weather to make decisions about school closures. Students will still have school Wednesday and should plan for school Thursday at this time.

“We are working with our local Emergency Management Agency and weather service to track Francine. The update at noon today predicts rain throughout the day tomorrow with concerning weather arriving late Wednesday evening and overnight,” Martin said. “The concerns are the road conditions and possible power outages Thursday morning. Those issues will not be known until after the storm passes. We appreciate your patience and support and will make adjustments as more information becomes available.”

Lincoln County is currently under a forecasted elevated threat of 45 to 55 mph sustained wind speeds from the tropical storm. Widespread downed trees, power lines can be expected with these winds. Damage to homes and buildings, many roads may become blocked. Power outages and communication outages could last for several days. Winds could reach Lincoln County late Wednesday afternoon and remain into Thursday.

Flash flooding is also a forecasted risk. NWS Jackson warns four to six inches of rain could come in a short period of time causing minor river flooding and flash flooding of low lying areas and urban areas. The flooding impacts could come late Wednesday afternoon into Thursday.

Isolated severe storms are also possible for Lincoln County. Damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes could be possible late Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night.

Lincoln County is currently under a Tropical Storm Watch with forecasted tropical storm conditions possible in the next 48 hours. Check back for more updates as the storm develops. The National Hurricane Center will have a new update at 4 p.m.