Tropical Storm Nicholas could turn into a hurricane before it hits the central coast of Texas Monday evening, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm threatens the region with “life-threatening” rainfall, with millions of residents under flood warnings.
On Monday afternoon, Nicholas was located 70 miles south of Port O’Connor, Texas, with maximum winds of 65 mph, according to the hurricane center. The storm could produce between 6 and 12 inches, with 18 inches in isolated areas, all along the Texas coast.
Meteorologists said “life-threatening” flash floods are possible off the high coast of Texas and southwestern Louisiana. They said southeast Texas, southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi could see 4 to 8 inches of rain. There is currently a hurricane in force in Port Aransas to San Luis Pass, Texas.
“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,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.
The Gulf Coast is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ida. In southeast Louisiana, more than 130,000 buildings remain without electricity, officials said Sunday. Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency and urged residents to prepare for possible flooding and heavy rains.
“One of the things we need to protect is to reject the threat of this storm because it is currently not expected to reach hurricane state,” Edwards said.
Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the season, a number that usually arrives in mid-November.