Tropical Storm Nicholas slowed the pace over Houston on Tuesday after crashing off the coast of the Gulf of Texas as a Category 1 hurricane and destroying power to more than half a million residents. The National Hurricane Center said the storm could still produce “life-threatening flash floods” across the deep south in the coming days.
Nicholas, the 14th storm of this year’s hurricane season, threw more than nine inches of rain in Houston, and some areas could end up with more than double that amount. More than six million people receive instant flood alerts from southeast Texas to the Florida Panhandle.
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit the same area with a record 60 inches of rain. Louisiana is also recovering from the fall of Hurricane Ida two weeks ago. “One of the most distressing parts of this is the heaviest rain that is expected to fall in the areas most devastated by Hurricane Ida,” Governor John Bel Edwards said Tuesday.
David J. Phillip / AP