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Nicholas, now a tropical depression, brings heavy rain to storm-ravaged Louisiana

Nicholas flooding
Posted at 7:22 AM, Sep 15, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-15 07:22:53-04

Now a tropical depression, Nicholas has made its way from eastern Texas into Louisiana, where it could dump several inches of rain on a state already recovering from a devastating hurricane.

Nicholas made landfall early Tuesday morning as a Category 1 hurricane near Sargent Beach, Texas. It continued to hug the shoreline throughout the day on Tuesday, losing wind speeds while gradually making its way eastward.

Nicholas did cause some problems with Texas's power grid, as more than 100,000 customers are currently without power.

While Nicholas no longer packs the wind speeds it did when it first made landfall; the storm continues to pose a threat to Texans and Louisianans because of heavy rainfall totals. Galveston, Texas, saw 14 inches of rain on Tuesday, while nearby Houston got 6 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service predicts that parts of Louisiana could get as many as 10 inches of rain in the coming days.

Nicholas' arrival in Louisiana comes just weeks after one of the strongest storms in the history of the state — Hurricane Ida — reached its shores. Ida devastated the state, downing trees, flooding areas and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. Even weeks later, about 80,000 customers in the state are still without power.

Entergy, the company that provides electricity to Louisiana, says Ida did more damage to the power grid than any other hurricane in state history.