'It did a lot of damage': Residents clean up after Hurricane Nicholas blasts Texas coast
Residents were out Tuesday evening picking up the damage after Nicholas hit the region with Category 1 hurricane force winds and storm surge, leaving homes flooded and about a half million people without power.
Residents clean up after Hurricane Nicholas blasts Texas coast
Residents were out picking up the damage after Nicholas hit the region with Category 1 hurricane force winds and storm surge.
SAN LUIS ISLAND, Texas -- Hurricane Nicolas left behind a swath of damage and standing water after it swiped the southeastern Texas coast Tuesday morning.
Residents were out Tuesday evening picking up the damage after Nicholas hit the region with Category 1 hurricane force winds and storm surge, leaving homes flooded and about a half million people without power.
Damage on San Luis Island, Texas after Hurricane Nicolas.
(FOX Weather)
"We were watching (the forecast) unfold… and we just thought it was just going to be a little rain," said Christine Boles, who lives on San Luis Island, about 25 miles south of Galveston. "And then the next thing we know… it comes in at 80 mph. And it did a lot of damage."
Wind reports so far: https://t.co/rqVNJjlBGP pic.twitter.com/6hicPfegjg
— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) September 14, 2021
Boles said they had water in their house and their garage door was partially blown apart.
"We lost a lot of our stuff that we did find way down at the other side of the street," she said.
Damage on San Luis Isle, Texas after Hurricane Nicolas.
(FOX Weather)
Even Wednesday, several inches to feet of water still covered some roads and surrounded some homes as workers pushed to clear debris from the parts of town not flooded. NOAA recorded water levels reaching 3-5 feet higher than normal high tide in Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.
Water levels from Matagorda Bay-Galveston Bay reached 3-5' > normal high tide following landfall of #Nicholas. Observed water levels at Manchester, TX reached just under 6' > normal high tide - the 4th highest on record dating back to 1995. https://t.co/WKYpkAXPw9 pic.twitter.com/OTejnvaLgY
— NOAA's Ocean Service (@noaaocean) September 14, 2021
Power companies were rushing to restore electricity and those without power in the region had dropped to about 100,000 by Wednesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.
Damage on San Luis Island, Texas after Hurricane Nicolas.
(FOX Weather)
Nicolas has since weakened to a Tropical Depression but was expected to continue to bring heavy rain to the Gulf Coast region.
As much as 4-10 inches of additional rain could fall along the Mississippi and Alabama coast into the western Florida panhandle.