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Nicholas Makes Landfall and Louisiana Braces For Rain

Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News

  NICHOLAS HITS COASTLINE- Tropical Storm Nicholas hit the Texas coast as a hurricane, bringing  the  threat of up to 20 inches of rainfall to parts of the Gulf Coast.  The national  hurricane center says the storm made landfall on the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula and was soon downgraded to a tropical storm.   Nicholas is pushing through Houston, Texas, with maximum winds of 60 mph moving slowly to the north-northeast along the Texas-Louisiana coastal region. The storm could also cause life-threatening flash floods across the Deep South. The biggest unknown about Nicholas is how much rainfall it will produce in Texas, especially around flood-prone Houston.  The same holds true for Louisiana as weather forecasters expect Nicholas to track through lower East Texas and continue through Southwest and lower Central Louisiana as it heads to the Northeast.   Although downgraded from hurricane status,   Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards says people  need  to  take  Nicholas seriously.

Credit Courtesy: LPB
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Courtesy: LPB
Governor John Bel Edwards at GOHSEP on 09.13.21

"It doesn't take a named storm much less a hurricane in order to produce enormous rainfall," Edwards said.

Lower and Central Louisiana are expected to receive heavy rainfall amounts.  Al little while ago Ken Graham- Director for the National Hurricane Center gave an update explaining the weather dynamics for people living in these regions.

"There are pockets that are going to see 15 to 20 inches of rain," Graham said. "And if you think about the slow movement, that means you still have rainbands along and  out ahead of it so that the heaviest rain can stretch from the Mississippi coast, back to metro New Orleans, Baton Rouge, back to Lake Charles, Beamont, anyone of these areas can see that significant amount of rain."

"There are pockets that are going to see 15 to 20 inches of rain," Ken Chambers, Director-National Hurricane Center

Credit Courtesy: NOAA NWS-NHC
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Courtesy: NOAA NWS-NHC
Ken Graham, Director for National Hurricane Center

Tropical Storm Nicholas, now inland over According to a statement from the Whitehouse,President Joe Biden declared an emergency for Louisiana and has ordered federal assistance for local responders because of the effects of Nicholas.  Nicholas was the 14th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. 

Stay tuned to Red River Radio for weather updates as we will be monitoring Tropical Storm Nichols throughout the day.

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.