On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an emergency statement, warning residents to be prepared for the next “major water event.”
Abbott said people needed to be prepared for “extreme high water events, including flooding and possible damage caused by rainfall.” He added that there was also the possibility that the system could generate tornadoes.
Nicholas landed near the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west-southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, around 1:30 a.m. ET Tuesday.
A hurricane warning is in place for Port O’Connor in Freeport, and a hurricane alert is in place for Freeport in San Luis Pass, Texas, the NHC said.
After reaching land, the center of the storm was expected to move to southeast Texas before heading to southwest Louisiana Wednesday later, during which it is expected to weaken, as reported by the NHC.
The state is preparing for a heavy downpour
In Houston, city officials and first aid were preparing for a significant amount of rain and wind.
“We’re expecting four to seven inches of rain overnight, as well as some wind, which could cause some electrical outages,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
The Houston Independent School District and the Galveston Independent School District announced Monday that schools in the area would close on Tuesday.
While the state was preparing for the storm, Abbott said he had been in contact with Gulf Coast officials “to make sure we are working collaboratively, to make sure we are locally ready for any storm to bring “.
Abbott said the state would go through the storm like many others did, but warned Texas to heed local warnings.
“It seems like every time we do heavy rain in the Houston area there are people driving in the high water and sometimes they lose their vehicles and even worse, sometimes they lose their lives. Your life is the most important thing. has, ”Abbott said. “Be careful while traveling through the Houston area to the Harris County area for the next few days.”
Louisiana’s recovery efforts threatened
A state of emergency has also been declared in Louisiana, which is still recovering from the devastating impacts of the fall of Hurricane Ida two weeks ago.
“The most serious threat to Louisiana is in the southwestern part of the state, where the recovery from Hurricane Laura and the May floods is underway,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “In this area, heavy rains and rapid flooding are possible. However, the entire South Louisiana region is also likely to see heavy rains this week, including areas recently affected by Hurricane Ida.”
LDH reported the deaths of a 69-year-old man and an 85-year-old woman, who died due to excessive heat during an extensive power outage.
Continued restoration efforts after Ida could slow down and some of those that have already been restored could be lost for a period of time due to Nicholas, Edwards said in a briefing Monday.
As for preparations for Nicholas, the National Guard will deploy 80 offshore vehicles, 23 ships and 15 aircraft across southwestern Louisiana and downtown Louisiana at the end of the day and, if necessary, will remain in response position in southeast Louisiana, according to Edwards. .
CNN’s Deanna Hackney, Amy Simonson, Raja Razek, Carma Hassan, Gregory Lemos and Rebekah Ries contributed to this report.