NEW ’CANE TAKES AIM AT TEX. & LA.
Nicholas’ winds, rain threaten Ida recovery
Tropical Storm Nicholas morphed into a Category 1 hurricane late Monday as it churned toward Texas, threatening to land a blustery blow as sustained winds reached 75 mph, with the potential to dump a deluge of up to 20 inches of rain in some areas.
Nicholas was traveling north-northeast at 10 mph, a track that would bring it near Matagorda Bay in the upper Texas Gulf Coast later Monday, then onshore along the Southeast Texas coast into Tuesday evening.
The storm was expected to stalk Lousisiana as well, where weather-weary residents were braced for days of drenching just two weeks after Hurricane Ida devastated the state.
The 14th named storm of the season gained strength as it churned off the southern coast of Texas. It was expected to make landfall in the Lone Star State by late Monday and into southwestern Louisiana by Tuesday morning.
Rescue teams and resources in the Houston area and along the coast have been in place well ahead of the storm, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told The Associated Press. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency, and warned of a long, drenching week.
“I encourage anyone who has had recent damage from Ida, [Hurricane] Laura or other disasters to take necessary measures to protect their home or business from additional harm.
“All Louisianans should to pay close attention to this tropical system in the coming days,” Edwards said.
Louisiana officials worried
Nicholas could wreck power restoration and recovery work still underway around New Orleans after Ida.
That storm slammed into the region as a deadly Category 4 hurricane, knocking power out of 120,000 Louisiana homes that still lacked electricity as of Monday, according to PowerOutages. us, a website tracking outages nationwide.
For Texans, the event was expected to deliver a drenching of anywhere from 8 to 16 inches — even as much as 20 inches in some spots — across portions of the middle and upper Texas coastal areas through the middle of the week. The rest of South Texas and southwest Louisiana are expected to see 5 to 10 inches of rain.
“It’s a life-threatening situation when it comes to this rainfall,” National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said in a briefing.
He warned that metropolitan areas like Houston and New Orleans as well as other cities away from the coast could also see dangerous flash flooding.
The storm surge tide could reach as high as 3 to 5 feet aboveground from Port O’Connor to San Luis Pass in Texas and up to 4 feet in other parts of Texas and Louisiana, according to the hurricane center.
“This is a storm that could leave heavy rain, as well as wind and probably flooding, in various different regions along the Gulf Coast,” Abbott said in a video message.
“We urge you to listen to local weather alerts, heed local warnings.”
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner sounded a similar alarm.
“I would strongly encourage you to stay off the roads this evening going into tomorrow,” he tweeted.