Tropical Storm Nicholas, which turned into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico as it approached the United States coast, made landfall in Texas (southern United States) early Tuesday morning, September 14, announced the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The hurricane landed along the coast of Texas at around 7:30 a.m. (Paris time), accompanied by winds blowing at 120 kilometers per hour, the NHC said in its latest bulletin.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has asked residents to heed warnings from local authorities. “We are expecting heavy rains this [lundi] evening and tomorrow [mardi]. I strongly encourage you not to take the road ”, urged Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, a metropolis still marked by the devastating Hurricane Harvey, in 2017.
Several roads closed
In a supermarket in the Houston area, the shelves were stormed Monday by residents who came to refuel before the storm arrived, especially in milk or eggs. The establishment had to implement a maximum quantity of purchases authorized for water. Gas stations, too, were seeing a larger influx of customers than usual.
As of Monday evening, several roads in Matagorda and Lavaca counties, about an hour and a half drive from Houston, had been closed due to flooding. Schools in the Houston area will be closed on Tuesday, while school activities scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon were canceled.
Many flights have been canceled at airports around Houston. The city’s port has been closed, a spokesperson for the agency responsible for crossing the Houston Canal said.
The Harris County Flood Management Department, to which the city of Houston belongs, also announced on Twitter that its tanks were empty and therefore ready to store as much rain as possible. Up to 500 millimeters of rain could indeed fall over southeastern Texas, the weather services have warned. They also warned of a risk of flash floods, dangerous especially in urbanized areas.
Nicholas is now a hurricane and may cause downed power lines. They could be hidden in floodwaters. Don’t drive thro… https://t.co/MdhKmrdbPC
– ReadyHarris (@Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management)
Storm Nicholas is expected to ease from Tuesday, while continuing its course northeast. The “Lone Star State” is used to the passage of storms and hurricanes. But with the warming of the surface of the oceans, these phenomena are becoming more powerful, according to scientists. In particular, they pose an increasingly important risk to coastal communities, victims of wave-submersion phenomena amplified by rising sea levels.