Category 1 hurricane Nicholas made landfall Tuesday morning off the coast of Texas, with forecasts of up to 20 inches of rain and possible flooding in various parts of the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
The system moves north-northeast at 10 mph (17 km / h) and this movement is expected to continue into the night, followed by a northeast turn and slower movement at late this Tuesday.
On the projected trajectory, downtown Nicholas is expected to move slowly over southeast Texas today and tonight, and over southwest Louisiana Wednesday.
It is expected to weaken over the next couple of days as it advances over land.
The NHC warned of the risk of sudden floods that would affect them areas of Texas and Louisiana, A region that was affected by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Albert Martínez, Univision meteorologist, Commented that rain bands can produce “severe storms with some tornado.”
Houston is preparing for flooding
For his part, Gaston Heredia, Univision News meteorologist in Houston 45, He detailed: “Nicholas should produce a major rain event on Monday night and through Wednesday. There is a possibility of flooding, very careful this week”.
The Houston metropolitan area, the largest in Texas and the third largest in the country, is prone to flooding. The main concern is the rains which occur during the first hours after Nicholas touches ground.
Authorities deployed high-water rescue vehicles across the city and erected barricades at more than 40 sites that tend to flood, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
“This city is very resilient. We know what we need to do. We know about preparedness,” Turner said, referring to four major flood events that have hit the Houston area in recent years, including devastating damage. of Harvey, which flooded more than 150,000 homes in the Houston area.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, to whom Houston belongs, has explained that she maintains close communication with Governor Abbott to deal with early emergencies.
Several schools in the Houston and Galveston area closed Monday due to the storm. The Houston School District, the largest in the state and the seventh largest in the United States, announce on Twitter that classes would remain suspended until Tuesday.
While Nicholas is approaching the same area of Texas who was hit hard by Harvey, which caused 68 deaths -36 of them in the Houston area-, experts consulted by AP commented that the damage was expected to be minor.
Hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami has said he expects Nicholas to “have less magnitude in all respects.”
Nicholas ’concern will be the slowness with which he moves. Storms are moving more slowly in recent decades and Nicholas could get stuck between two other climate systems, said hurricane researcher Jim Kossin of The Climate Service.
State of emergency in Louisiana
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Sunday night. The announcement comes as the state is still recovering from the passage of Hurricane Ida and the damage caused by Hurricane Laura last year.
“The most severe threat to Louisiana is in the southwestern part of the state, where the recovery from Hurricane Laura continuesEdwards said.
The storm was expected to bring the heaviest rains to the west of the region where Iada passed through Louisiana.
While Lake Charles received minimal impact from Ida, the city was severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta in 2020, the historic winter storm in February and unprecedented floods, which occurred during this spring.
Nicholas is the number 14 storm that gets strong enough to get a name, explain on your Twitter account hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, of Colorado State University. Since 1966, only four years have had 14 or more storms named by September 12: 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2020.
