Tropical Storm Nicholas: Power outages reported amid heavy rain

Tropical Storm Nicholas was upgraded to a hurricane just when it made landfall at 12:30AM.

It has since weakened and is downgraded back to a tropical storm.

Nicholas is bringing heavy rainfall which can result in life-threatening flash floods.

Over 300,000 people have lost power in Texas and President Biden has declared a state of emergency for Louisiana which was already recovering from the damage dealt by Hurricane Ida.

Nicholas as reported earlier by The Conservative is reaching winds of up to 70mph and the Texas and Louisiana coasts are preparing to combat up to 15 inches of rain.

Louisiana may yet again be the worst hit as experts predict rainfall going up to 22 inches in the affected areas.

Experts fear that even small amounts of rainfall brought by Nicholas in the areas recovering from Ida’s damage could result in flash floods because of the drainage systems still overflowing with water.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled in Texas and Louisiana.

About 150,000 customers are still without power in Louisiana and heavy rains influenced by Nicholas could disrupt the recovery operations and make restored power go down again.

Governor Greg Abbott has declared states of emergencies in over 15 counties and three cities.

Houston’s mayor Turner has also warned residents to stay off the streets as powerlines along with flooded roads could prove fatal.