US: Hurricane Nicholas hits Texas coast; Louisiana faces flooding threat

On Tuesday, Hurricane Nicholas made landfall off the coast of Texas, threatening up to 20 inches of rain in parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area struck by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-ravaged Louisiana. According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Nicholas made landfall on the eastern side of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 17 kilometres west southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, with maximum winds of 120 kph. 

Nicholas' centre was forecast to move slowly over southeastern Texas on Tuesday and southwestern Louisiana on Wednesday as it moved north northeast at 17 kph. The most uncertain aspect of Hurricane Nicholas was how much rain it would dump in Texas, particularly in flood-prone Houston.

Authorities send rescue personnel to Houston

A tropical storm warning was in effect for nearly the whole state's coastline, with probable flash floods and urban flooding. According to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, authorities have sent rescue personnel and resources in the Houston area and along the coast. Officials in Houston are concerned that the heavy rain forecast by Tuesday would inundate streets and flood homes. Mayor Sylvester Turner said authorities deployed high-water rescue vehicles throughout the city and constructed barricades at more than 40 flood-prone spots.

Because of the approaching storm, many districts along the Texas Gulf Coast cancelled school classes on Monday. Multiple COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites in Houston and Corpus Christi were also cancelled due to the weather, and a Harry Styles performance scheduled for Monday evening in Houston was also cancelled. Along the middle and upper Texas coasts, 15 to 30 centimetres of rain were forecast. 10 to 20 centimetres of rain might fall in southeast Texas, south-central Louisiana, and southern Mississippi in the following days.

Brian McNoldy, a hurricane expert at the University of Miami, predicts that Nicholas will be magnitudes smaller than Hurricane Harvey in every way. According to The Climate Service's hurricane researcher Jim Kossin, hurricanes have been moving slower in recent decades, and Nicholas might become trapped between two other weather systems.

120,000 people without power in Louisiana as of Monday morning

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced a state of emergency late Sunday night. According to the utility tracking site poweroutage.us, about 120,000 people in Louisiana were still without power Monday morning. Mayor Nic Hunter of Lake Charles said the city is taking the storm's danger seriously, as it does all tropical systems.

(Inputs from AP News)

Image: AP