Ernesto is now a hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph. It's expected to become a hurricane later this morning and a Category 3 storm by Friday.

The center of the storm will push across the state, slamming New Orleans and Baton Rouge with damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge.

Gov. Jeff Landry has declared a statewide emergency to prepare for a likely Louisiana landfall of what will be Hurricane Francine this week. "We want the citizens of the state not to panic, but to be prepared," Landry said late Monday during a press conference with his Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security Secretary Jacques Thibodeaux.