Hurricane Nicholas makes landfall on the Texas coast, bringing powerful winds and threatening rainfall

Hurricane Nicholas made landfall along the Texas coast early Tuesday, bringing the threat of up to 20 inches of rainfall to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana.

Nicholas touched down on the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, with maximum winds of 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. 

The biggest unknown about Nicholas was how much rainfall it would produce in Texas, especially in flood-prone Houston.

Meteorologists say Nicholas will be a rainmaker. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Eric Blake forecasts Nicholas to pound parts of the middle and upper Texas coastline with 8 to 16 inches of rain, and isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches are possible through the middle of the week. Across the rest of coastal Texas into southwest Louisiana, 5 to 10 inches is expected.

"Life-threatening flash and urban flooding impacts are possible, especially across portions of the upper Texas Gulf Coast," the hurricane center said. 

River flooding was also a concern.

In flood-prone Houston, officials worried that heavy rain expected to arrive late Monday and early Tuesday could inundate streets and flood homes. Authorities deployed high-water rescue vehicles throughout the city and erected barricades at more than 40 locations that tend to flood, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

“This city is very resilient. We know what we need to do. We know about preparing,” said Turner, referencing four major flood events that have hit the Houston area in recent years, including devastating damage from Harvey, which flooded more than 150,000 homes in the Houston area.

Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo asked residents to stay off the roads Monday evening to avoid risking their lives or the lives of first responders who might be called to rescue them from flooded roadways.

“What I need each resident to do is get where you need to be by 6 p.m. and stay there,” said Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which includes Houston.

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Louisiana, where more than 100,000 homes and businesses remain without power two weeks after the devastation of Hurricane Ida, was under a state of emergency. In Texas, Houston could be blasted with 8 to 12 inches of rain, and nearby areas could see up to 24 inches, AccuWeather forecast.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said resources had been deployed in Houston and along the state's entire Gulf Coast ahead of the storm.

"We urge you to listen to local weather alerts and heed local warnings from local officials," Abbott said. "Be sure to avoid high water and the affects of flooding. And be safe."

Nicholas is headed toward the same area of Texas that was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. That storm made landfall in the middle Texas coast, then stalled for four days, dropping more than 60 inches of rain in parts of southeast Texas. Harvey was blamed for at least 68 deaths.

Schools close ahead of storm

About a dozen public school systems near Galveston, Texas, shut down for the day Monday, and Galveston schools closed around noon. Several districts in the Houston area shut down or planned early releases. The Houston Independent School District tweeted that campuses and district offices would remain open Monday – but would be closed Tuesday. 

Texas A&M University-Kingsville canceled classes, and the school's Corpus Christi campus switched to remote learning for the day. The University of Houston was open Monday but was monitoring the forecast for excessive rainfall and flooding. The status for Tuesday had not been determined, the school said.

Hurricane season has been among most active

Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. Only four other years since 1966 have had 14 or more named storms by Sept. 12: 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2020.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two other systems in the Atlantic; chances are increasing for the systems to develop into tropical depressions this week.

The next names in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season will be Odette and Peter. 

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Track Tropical Storm Nicholas' path 

Contributing: The Associated Press