It is no longer a tropical storm but a hurricane.
Nicholas is heading to the city of Houston on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced Monday evening.
10 PM CDT 13 September Key Messages for recently upgraded Hurricane #Nicholas.
The Texas coast from Port O'Connor north to Freeport has been upgraded to a Hurricane Warning.
Latest Advisory: https://t.co/t0VkuDr67K pic.twitter.com/E7Iuguk1qL
- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 14, 2021
Accompanied by winds of 120 km / h, Nicholas "brings heavy rains, strong winds and stormy disturbances to the central and northern coasts of Texas," the NHC said in its 03:00 GMT bulletin, specifying that the hurricane is on its way. was 30 km southeast of Matagorda, a town a few miles from Houston.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has asked residents to heed warnings from local authorities.
“We expect heavy rain this evening and tomorrow.
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.
More powerful phenomena
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 authorized purchase quantity 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 a 1.5 hour drive from Houston, were closed due to flooding.
Schools in the Houston area will be closed on Tuesday while school activities scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon have been canceled.
The Harris County Flood Management Service, 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 50 centimeters of rain could fall in southeastern Texas, the weather services have warned.
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 significant risk to coastal communities that are victims of wave-submersion phenomena amplified by rising sea levels.
