The National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted that Nicholas will bring
5 to 10 inches of rain to the coasts of Texas and Louisiana
from Sunday afternoon into the week.
Center experts are also forecasting 2- to 5-inch rains in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas for Sunday and Monday.
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, ordered that
the necessary resources be made available to attend to any eventuality that happens on the coast.
"We will continue to closely monitor this storm and take all necessary precautions," Abbott said in a statement.
The Northeast of the country has not yet recovered from the scourge of Ida and now another storm threatens the region
Sept.
8, 202101: 44
[More than 40 dead in floods due to historic rains from Storm Ida in the Northeast]
"I ask Texans to follow the instructions and warnings of local authorities and to
be vigilant for heavy rain and flooding,
" added the governor.
The storm is likely to move up the coast and trigger heavy rains for several days, said meteorologist Donald Jones of the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
"The biggest threats to Nicholas are
heavy rains and flooding throughout the region,
" Jones said.
In the morning, the storm was located about 130 miles northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, and 405 miles southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande
.
Its maximum wind speed was 40 miles per hour
and it was heading north-northwest at 13 miles per hour.
A satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Nicholas in the Gulf of Mexico on September 12, 2021.
["He hadn't hit like he did this time": Grace leaves at least 8 dead and houses destroyed in Mexico]
The Mexican National Meteorological Service issued a warning for the formation of the tropical storm.
Although it is not expected to make landfall in Mexico or escalate to a hurricane, the authorities predicted "heavy to torrential rains over the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco, and very strong in Puebla" due to a storm in the south and southeast of the country.
The phenomenon arises while Mexico faces the “most difficult week” for Civil Protection, as declared by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after the floods that
on Tuesday caused 17 deaths in a hospital of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Hidalgo
, in the center of the country.
In addition, last Wednesday, cyclone Olaf formed in the Pacific, which hit Baja California Sur, in the northwest, as a category 2 hurricane, and left one dead due to a collapse on a highway in Jalisco, in the west.
"It's So Frustrating": New Jersey Latinos Watch Storm Ida End Years of Sacrifice
Sept.
3, 202102: 43
[How and when to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm]
This Sunday, the authorities asked the inhabitants of the states of the Gulf of Mexico and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec "to take extreme precautions."
"The rainfall generated by the
tropical
cyclone
could generate landslides, increase in the levels of rivers and streams, and overflows and floods
in low-lying areas," says the Mexican meteorological service in its latest statement.
This storm comes after Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana, killing at least 26 people, destroying dozens of homes and leaving thousands of people without water or electricity.
Philadelphia struggles to return to normal after historic flooding caused by Ida
Sept.
7, 202100: 20
[Biden visits areas of New York and New Jersey hit by Hurricane Ida: "We are going to deal with climate change"]
According to the Louisiana Public Utilities Commission,
6.3% of the population (more than 140,000 people) were still without power on
Sunday morning
.
Bob Henson, a meteorologist at Yale Climate Connections, said in an email that the heaviest rains will occur in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, where precipitation could reach 10 to 15 inches.
"Further east, there could be
heavy downpours in southeastern Louisiana where Hurricane Ida impacted
," Henson said.
Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University, noted on Twitter that Nicholas is the 14th storm to be named during the Atlantic season.
Aside from 2021, only four years have had that many storms before September 12: 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2020.
With information from AP and EFE
