Louisiana declares storm emergency

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said September 12 that Tropical Storm Nicholas could disrupt ongoing recovery operations from Hurricane Ida.

Edwards declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm. The storm is expected to hit parts of Louisiana that are still recovering from Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm that struck in late August 2020, and areas impacted recently by Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm that made landfall August 29.

“This tropical storm has the potential to disrupt some power restoration and recovery work currently underway,” the governor said. “I encourage anyone who has had recent damage from Ida, Laura or other disasters to take necessary measures to protect their home or business from additional harm.”

Ida is rivalling Hurricane Katrina from 2005 in terms of damage to the regional energy sector, with power outages idling several area refineries.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported September 12 that 48.5% of the oil production and 54.3% of the natural gas production from the US territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico remained offline more than two weeks after Ida made landfall.

Nicholas is not expected to strengthen to a hurricane. A storm brewing in the Atlantic is moving west toward the Caribbean Islands and the Florida Panhandle. That is expected to build to a tropical depression late this week.