AUSTIN, Texas — For the sixth time in the past three months, a tropical storm or a hurricane is aiming for the now-waterlogged United States’ Gulf Coast. Tropical Storm Nicholas, which is poised to make landfall sometime Monday, would be the first to directly strike Texas in 2021. While Nicholas is unlikely to achieve hurricane status, the National Hurricane Center is warning those in its path of the potential for “life-threatening inundation” by storm surge, with as much as 20 inches of rainfall in some areas causing both that surge and flash flooding. As we saw when Hurricane Ida reached land two weeks ago, these powerful storms can lead to both power outages and industrial accidents. Like Tropical Storm Mindy last week, Nicholas developed close to the Gulf shore, leaving little time for the operators of oil, gas and other dangerous facilities to prepare for the worst. In response, Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger released the following statement:
