Nicholas, who landed as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday in Texas, is expected to stop in Louisiana, where it will dissipate as it absorbs vulnerable areas. As of Tuesday night, the system was carrying winds of up to 35 mph combined with higher gusts, NHC forecasts added.
Total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches (and in some places up to 20 inches) is likely until early Friday in Louisiana in the Florida Panhandle.
More than 6.2 million people are under flood clocks stretching from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. More than 700,000 of these people are in the New Orleans area, according to the National Weather Service.
Louisiana has not yet fully restored energy after the fall of Ida on August 29th.
New Orleans Communications Director Beau Tidwell said Tuesday that the current projected cost of damages for Ida is about $ 19 million. The city is working to remove excess debris from the hurricane, but only about two-thirds of the way remains, he said.
In addition to widespread flood damage, the Category 4 hurricane is blamed for at least 29 deaths in the state, with the latest mortality announced Tuesday by Gov. John Bel Edwards. Edwards said the excess heat is responsible for 13 deaths and six deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Restoration efforts in Louisiana have been improving, but an electricity supplier said Nicholas could slow that progress.
“Heavy rainfall and strong winds will be the main impacts in East Texas and southwestern Louisiana,” Entergy Louisiana warned Tuesday in a statement.
The company said it restored power to 91% of its customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. A full restoration can be expected in areas that suffered from the weight of Ida’s waters on Sept. 29, the utility said.
Houston residents should stay home, officials warn
Meanwhile, Texas was clearing after the system first landed near the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west-southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, around 1 p.m. : 30 am ET Tuesday, with winds of 75 mph.
After the heavy rain, Houston officials asked residents to stay home Tuesday night as energy cleaning and restoration work is underway.
“Dangerous conditions still exist and Houstonians are being asked to stay home tonight,” city officials said in a press release. “The power outage means some headlights and traffic signals remain off and downed power lines can be on the road and difficult to see in the dark.”
More than 340 flights to and from Houston’s William P. Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental Airports were canceled on Tuesday, according to the FlightAware flight tracking website. All Port Houston terminals were closed on Tuesday, but were expected to return to normal hours on Wednesday, according to their official Twitter account.
Bart Stanley’s family has owned Stanley’s General Store in Matagorda, Texas, since 1964. The storm ripped the canopy off part of the store’s gas station, causing the worst damage it has seen in all that time.
“I went down here to open our store so people could have coffee and gas and whatever they needed, as there is no other place about 30 miles away,” he said.
CNN’s Gregory Lemos, Rebekah Riess, and Raja Razek contributed to this report.