Slow-moving Tropical Storm Nicholas soaks the Gulf Coast

By Juan A. Lozano | Associated Press

SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas — Tropical Storm Nicholas slowed to a crawl implicit southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana Tuesday aft blowing ashore arsenic a hurricane, knocking retired powerfulness to a half-million homes and businesses and dumping much than a ft of rainfall on the aforesaid country swamped by Hurricane Harvey successful 2017.

Nicholas could perchance stall implicit storm-battered Louisiana and bring life-threatening floods crossed the Deep South implicit the coming days, forecasters said.

Nicholas made landfall aboriginal Tuesday connected the eastbound portion of the Matagorda Peninsula and was soon downgraded to a tropical storm. It was astir 50 miles eastbound of Houston, with maximum winds of 40 mph arsenic of 4 p.m. CDT Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center successful Miami. However, upwind radar showed the heaviest rainfall Tuesday day was implicit southwestern Louisiana, good eastbound of the tempest center.

The tempest is moving east-northeast astatine 6 mph. A tropical tempest informing remained successful effect from High Island, Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center said the tempest whitethorn proceed to dilatory and adjacent stall, and though its winds volition gradually subside, dense rainfall and a important flash flood hazard volition proceed on the Gulf Coast for the adjacent mates days.

Galveston, Texas, saw astir 14 inches of rainfall from Nicholas, the 14th named tempest of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, portion Houston reported much than 6 inches of rain. That’s a fraction of what fell during Harvey, which dumped much than 60 inches of rainfall successful southeast Texas implicit a four-day period.

In the tiny coastal municipality of Surfside Beach astir 65 miles southbound of Houston, Kirk Klaus, 59, and his woman Monica Klaus, 62, rode retired the tempest successful their two-bedroom home, which sits astir 6 to 8 feet supra the crushed connected stilts.

“It was bad. I won’t ever bash it again,” Kirk Klaus said.

He said it rained each time connected Monday and, arsenic the nighttime progressed, the rainfall and winds got worse.

Sometime astir 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, the beardown winds blew retired 2 of his home’s windows, letting successful rainfall and forcing the mates to continually mop their floors. Klaus said the rainfall and winds created a tempest surge of astir 2 feet successful beforehand of his home.

“It looked similar a stream retired here,” helium said.

Nearby, Andrew Connor, 33, of Conroe, had not been pursuing the quality astatine his family’s rented Surfside Beach abrogation location and was unaware of the storm’s attack until it struck. The tempest surge surrounded the formation location with water, prompting Connor to see utilizing surfboards to instrumentality his woman and six children to higher crushed if the location flooded.

The oversea ne'er made its mode done the door, but it did flood the household athletics inferior vehicle, Connor said.

“When I popped the hood, I had seaweed and formation toys and each that worldly successful my engine,” helium said.

Nicholas is moving truthful dilatory it volition dump respective inches of rainfall arsenic it crawls implicit Texas and confederate Louisiana, meteorologists said. This includes areas already struck by Hurricane Ida and devastated past twelvemonth by Hurricane Laura. Parts of Louisiana are saturated with obscurity for the other h2o to go, truthful it volition flood, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy.

“It’s stuck successful a anemic steering environment,” McNoldy said Tuesday. So portion the tempest itself whitethorn weaken “that won’t halt the rainfall from happening. Whether it’s a tropical storm, tropical slump oregon post-tropical blob, it’ll inactive rainfall a batch and that’s not truly bully for that area.”

The tempest was moving east-northeast astatine 7 mph, and the halfway of Nicholas was expected to determination dilatory implicit southeastern Texas connected Tuesday and implicit southwestern Louisiana connected Wednesday.More than a half-million homes and businesses had mislaid powerfulness successful Texas, but that fig dropped to astir 375,000 by midday Tuesday, according to the website poweroutage.us that tracks inferior reports. Most of those outages were caused by almighty winds arsenic the tempest moved done overnight, inferior officials said. Across Louisiana, astir 100,000 customers remained without powerfulness Tuesday midday.

Nicholas brought rainfall to the aforesaid country of Texas that was deed hard by Harvey, which was blamed for astatine slightest 68 deaths, including 36 successful the Houston area. After Harvey, voters approved the issuance of $2.5 cardinal successful bonds to money flood-control projects, including the widening of bayous. The 181 projects designed to mitigate harm from aboriginal storms are astatine antithetic stages of completion.

McNoldy, the hurricane researcher, said Nicholas is bringing acold little rainfall than Harvey did.

“It’s not brainsick amounts of rain. It isn’t thing similar Hurricane Harvey benignant of happening with feet of rain,” McNoldy said. Harvey not lone stalled for 3 days implicit the aforesaid area, it moved a spot backmost into the Gulf of Mexico, allowing it to recharge with much water. Nicholas won’t bash that, McNoldy said.

Nicholas, expected to weaken into a tropical slump by Tuesday night, could dump up to 20 inches of rainfall successful parts of confederate Louisiana. Forecasters said confederate Mississippi, confederate Alabama and the occidental Florida Panhandle could spot dense rainfall arsenic well.

On Tuesday, dense rains from Nicholas pelted bluish tarps that covered roofs damaged by Ida each implicit confederate Louisiana.

Ida destroyed 1 gathering and near holes successful the extortion of the main works astatine Motivatit Seafoods, a family-run oyster wholesaler successful Houma, Louisiana. With rainfall from Nicholas pouring successful connected high-pressure processing equipment, proprietor Steven Voisin said helium didn’t cognize whether the machines could beryllium saved aft the latest circular of tropical weather.

“And galore radical from present to New Orleans person this oregon much damage,” helium said. “They’re not going to retrieve rapidly oregon easily.”

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a authorities of exigency Sunday night, up of the storm’s accomplishment successful a state.

In southwestern Louisiana, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said Monday that crews were scouring the drainage strategy to support it escaped from debris that mightiness clog up and origin flooding. But aft aggregate earthy disasters successful specified a abbreviated play of time, helium said he’s disquieted astir residents’ authorities of mind.

Last year, Category 4 Hurricane Laura caused important structural harm crossed the metropolis of astir 80,000 residents. Weeks later, Hurricane Delta ripped done the aforesaid area. Freezing temperatures successful January burst pipes crossed the city, and a May rainstorm swamped houses and businesses yet again. Some residents person had to gut houses aggregate times implicit 1 year.

“With what radical person gone done implicit the past 16 months present successful Lake Charles, they are very, understandably, despondent, emotional. Any clip we person adjacent a hint of a upwind lawsuit approaching, radical get scared,” helium said.

Associated Press writers Jill Bleed successful Little Rock, Arkansas; Jay Reeves successful Houma, Louisiana; Rebecca Santana successful New Orleans; Julie Walker successful New York, and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein successful Washington contributed to this report.