Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the early hours of Tuesday and is expected to cause heavy rains and flooding this week on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana.
The storm made landfall around 12:30 a.m. CDT in the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west-southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas. Sustained maximum winds were 75 mph with higher gusts on land, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
On Monday night, the NHC turned Nicholas into a hurricane, as its center was 20 miles southeast of Matagorda, Texas.
On Tuesday at 1 a.m., the storm was about 25 miles west-southwest of Freeport, Texas, with sustained maximum winds of 75 mph. It was moving north-northeast at 10 mph.
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In the forecast, Nicholas Center is expected to move slowly to southeast Texas on Tuesday and southwest Louisiana on Wednesday.
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Workers remove banners from a site in front of Landry’s Seafood House in Galveston, Texas, on Monday, September 13, 2021, while residents and businesses prepare for Tropical Storm Nicholas. (Jennifer Reynolds / The Galveston County Diary via AP)
“Nicholas is expected to produce total storm rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 18 inches, in the coastal areas of Upper Texas through Wednesday,” according to the NHC. “The life-threatening impacts of instant flooding, especially in urbanized metropolitan areas, are possible across portions of the Texas Gulf Coast in the southwestern tip of Louisiana.”
Frank Rivera streams Facebook while fishing with a friend, as Tropical Storm Nicholas heads to the Texas coast on Monday, September 13, 2021, along Galveston Dam, Texas. (Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle via AP)
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In Texas, a hurricane warning is in place for Port O’Connor in Freeport and a hurricane watch for Freeport in San Luis Pass, the NHC added.