■ Tropical Depression Nicholas hovered over Louisiana, dumping heavy rain.
Storm complicates Ida recovery efforts
NEW ORLEANS — Tropical Depression Nicholas hovered over Louisiana on Wednesday, raining on a region struggling to recover from Hurricane Ida and deluging coastal Mississippi, Alabama and northwest Florida.
Flash flood warnings were in effect Wednesday evening in parts of south Alabama and northwest Florida.
And the National Weather Service said heavy rains were likely to last until Nicholas dissipates over Louisiana some time Friday.
In Louisiana, the rainfall complicated an already difficult recovery at homes ripped open by Ida on
Aug. 29. Thousands remain without power in Texas and Louisiana.
“I’m not sure at this point what it looks like,” said Edith Anthony, whose home in Laplace, a New Orleans suburb between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, suffered roof damage while getting about 2 to 3 feet of floodwater two weeks ago.
They still don’t have electricity, and couldn’t arrange for a tarp to cover the roof before Nicholas blew in. She and her husband were staying in a Mobile, Alabama, hotel, preparing
to return this weekend to take a look at what’s left of their home.
Nicholas was centered Wednesday afternoon about 75 miles south of Alexandria, Louisiana, creeping eastward at 2 mph. It was forecast to dump as much as 6 inches of rain from southeast Louisiana into the Florida Panhandle through Friday, with 10 inches possible in isolated areas.
“Life-threatening flash flooding impacts, especially in urban areas, remain a possibility in these areas,” forecasters said. The weather service reported that as much as 5 inches
had fallen in Alabama’s Baldwin County and in northwest Florida as of Wednesday afternoon. News outlets reported flooded roads in Baldwin County and around Pensacola, Florida.
Nicholas dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on parts of Texas — and the weather service was checking reports of nearly 14 inches of rain in Galveston — after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.
Houston reported more than 6 inches. Parts of Louisiana received more than 10 inches of rain from the storm.