HOUSTON (AP) — Tropical Storm Nicholas gathered strength Monday and threatened to blow ashore in Texas as a hurricane that could bring up to 20 inches of rain to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana.
Although the system was expected to generate only a fraction as much rain as Harvey, nearly all of the state’s coastline was under a tropical storm warning that included potential flash floods and urban flooding. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said authorities placed rescue teams and resources in the Houston area and along the coast.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the system's top sustained winds reached 65 mph (105 kph), an increase of 5 mph (8 kph) from earlier in the day. If the winds hit 74 mph (119 kph), the storm would become a Category 1 hurricane. It was moving northeast at 12 mph (19 kph) and was predicted to make landfall in the evening along the central Texas coast.
