"HOUSTON — Tropical Storm Nicholas hit the Texas coast early Tuesday as a hurricane and dumped more than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain along the the same area swamped by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, drenching storm-battered Louisiana and bringing the potential for life-threatening flash floods across the Deep South.
Nicholas made landfall on the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula and was soon downgraded to a tropical storm. It was about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south-southwest of Houston, Texas, with maximum winds of 70 mph (110 kph) as of 4 a.m. CDT Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Nicholas was the 14th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.
The storm was moving north-northeast at 9 mph (15 kph) and the center of Nicholas was expected to move slowly over southeastern Texas on Tuesday and over southwestern Louisiana on Wednesday.
Galveston has received nearly 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain with the storm while the flood-prone Houston area saw more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service. Nicholas could dump up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain in parts of central and southern Louisiana."
Juan A. Lozano reports for the Associated Press September 14, 2021.
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