Louisiana, Other Gulf States May Expect Up to 20 Inches of Rainfall Due to Tropical Depression Nicholas

As Tropical Depression Nicholas slowly moves across Texas, residents of Houston are told to remain at home Tuesday night and Louisiana residents, including some still struggling to recover from Hurricane Ida, are told to brace for intensive rain.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Tropical Depression Nicholas  

Even though Nicholas doesn't gather powerful winds as Ida did when it prompted landfall in the US on the 29th of August, it is a rainmaker that moves gradually and could possibly dump precipitation of up to 20 inches over the coming few days.

City officials warned that threatening conditions is still in Houston. In a news release, officials said: "Power outages mean some streetlights and traffic signals remain out and downed power lines may be on the road and hard to see in the dark."

Since Sunday, over 6 inches of rain came down in downtown Houston the National Weather Service revealed on its website. In Deer Park city, close to 10 inches of rain fell.

In Louisiana, forecasters projected that on Wednesday some regions will witness 2 to 3 inches in one hour.

As per Taylor Ward, a CNN Meteorologist, the storm will force remarkable moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico into Thursday.

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Heavy Rainfall

5 to 10 inches of rainfall totals or even up to 20 inches could possibly occur in some areas through early Friday in locations from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

National Hurricane Center said in its 7:00 p.m. CT advisory: "Life-threatening flash flooding impacts, especially in urban areas, are possible across these regions." 

With its torrential rain which is slow in movement,  Nicholas has some features similar to Hurricane Harvey, August 2017 Category 4 storm that stopped over the Houston region and dumped rain of about 30 to 40 inches over several days.

The flooding that followed killed 68 people, this is the highest hurricane death toll recorded in the state since 1919.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Flash Flood Watch

Flash flood watches have been issued to over 6.2 million people and this watch extends from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. Over 700,000 of those people stay in the New Orleans region, as per the National Weather Service.

Early Tuesday, the storm's center made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, and has slowed. It is expected to stop in Louisiana where it will dissipate.

John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Governor said the storm is anticipated to bring down some of its most torrential rain in areas where Hurricane Ida impacted.

In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, the governor warned: "I suspect that there will be some of these homes and businesses that have begun to receive power again after Hurricane Ida, they may lose it because of Nicholas, because all of those electric companies have yet to restore the full redundancy and resiliency of their systems."

About 74,000 customers are experiencing power outages late Tuesday, and Nicholas could drain critical recovery resources and damage the state's susceptible infrastructure even more.

Related Article: Texas Brace for Heavy Rains and Flooding This Week as Tropical Storm Nicholas Approaches

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