Hurricane battered Louisiana braces for Nicholas drenching

Gov. Edwards warned residents to expect flash flooding and to take the storm seriously

Residents of southern Louisiana, still recovering from Hurricane Ida just weeks ago, braced themselves on Wednesday for expected heavy rains as Hurricane Nicholas crawls across parts of the state from Texas.

Nicholas made landfall early Tuesday on the Texas coast, dumping heavy rain even though it was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm and later a depression. But forecasters said Nicholas could stall over storm-battered Louisiana and spread life-threatening floods across the Deep South over the coming days.

In a state still recovering from Category 4 storm Ida weeks ago — as well as Category 4 Laura a year ago — Nicholas and its potentially heavy rain bands were unwelcome news.