Hurricane Nicholas Brings Heavy Rain to Texas

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tropical-storm-nicholas-to-bring-heavy-rain-to-texas-louisiana-11631545297?mod=hp_lead_pos6

September 14, 2021 2 min read

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The National Hurricane Center late Monday upgraded Nicholas to a hurricane, adding that it was bringing heavy rains, strong winds and storm surges to parts of the central and upper Texas coasts.

It later said Nicholas made landfall along the Texas coast and its center would then move over southeastern Texas on Tuesday and early Wednesday. Later Wednesday, the NHC said, Nicholas’s center would move over southwestern Louisiana.

The NHC said a Hurricane Warning was in effect along the Texas coast from Port O’Connor north to Freeport.

The NHC forecast total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches across some coastal areas of Texas through the middle of the week. Inland, up to 10 inches of rain is forecast to fall across southeast Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi through Thursday.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in Houston said the area could see 10 to 15 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. “That would certainly flood roadways,” Judge Hidalgo said. “It could be a threat to the channels, and it could be a threat to some structures.”

Sand bags and boards were placed outside shops in Galveston, Texas, ahead of the storm.

Photo:

Reginald Mathalone/NURPHOTO/Zuma Press

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

said the state had started mobilizing resources over the weekend to help local officials. Some schools in South Texas were closed Monday, and many districts in the path of the storm planned to remain closed on Tuesday, including Houston Independent School District. Some events were also postponed, including a Harry Styles concert at the Toyota Center in Houston.

In Louisiana,

Gov. John Bel Edwards

declared a state of emergency on Sunday because of the threat of heavy rainfall and flash flooding. He said the storm could disrupt some of the power restoration and recovery work currently under way after Hurricane Ida.

“We wanted to make sure no one is caught off guard by this storm,” Mr. Edwards said at a press conference Monday.

Hurricane Ida hit southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 storm, leaving more than one million residents without power. While electricity has largely been restored across the state, some areas remain without power, and their homes are uninhabitable.

Ida also disrupted oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, and nearly 50% of U.S. offshore oil production remains out of service.

National Weather Service New Orleans said that with debris still blocking ditches and drainage systems, there was an increased risk of flash flooding.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com and Talal Ansari at talal.ansari@wsj.com