Gov. Edwards Requests Federal Declaration of Emergency in Advance of Tropical Storm Nicholas

Louisiana continues to recover from Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Ida, with many homes and businesses still damaged from these events. Heavy rainfall could complicate current storm recovery.

'Nicholas will likely be weakening into a depression as its center slowly moves into Louisiana early Wednesday morning and will exit into Southern Mississippi by Thursday morning. Life-threatening rainfall is our primary concern Tuesday through Thursday, with between six and 10 inches likely across Southwest and South Louisiana with locally higher amounts possible, especially given the slow storm motion. Because of the heavy rainfall this storm will bring, flash flooding will be the greatest threat of this system. It also has the potential to cause river flooding in Southwest and Southeast Louisiana. The ongoing storm recovery will be a compounding threat because homes are already damaged, people are already displaced and storm debris from Ida could be blocking drainage systems, causing rainwater to accumulate more quickly than normal, which will potentially enhance the flash flooding threat,' Gov. Edwards said. 'I hope that no one dismisses this threat just because Nicholas is not expected to become a hurricane. I'll remind everyone that Ida caused significant problems all the way into the Northeast due to flash flooding and tornadoes.'

• Click here to read Gov. Edwards' letter to the President.
• Yesterday, Gov. Edwards declared a state of emergency in advance of Tropical Storm Nicholas. Click here to read that declaration.