Tropical depression Nicholas could hamper Louisiana recovery after Ida

(CNN) – Tropical Depression Nicholas could hamper recovery efforts in Louisiana as it threatens to trigger heavy rains in a state still reeling after the devastation of Hurricane Ida.

Parts of central and southern Louisiana could receive up to 10 inches of rain through Friday, experts from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted Tuesday night.

Nicholas, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday in Texas, is expected to halt in Louisiana, where it will dissipate as it soaks into vulnerable areas. As of Tuesday night, the system was carrying winds of up to km / h along with stronger gusts, NHC meteorologists said.

Total rainfall of up to 25 centimeters, and in some places up to 50 centimeters, is likely through early Friday morning from Louisiana to Florida.

More than 6.2 million people are under surveillance from flash floods that extend from Texas to Florida. More than 700,000 of those people are in the New Orleans area, according to the National Weather Service.

Louisiana has yet to fully restore power after Ida made landfall on August 29.

New Orleans communications director Beau Tidwell said Tuesday that the current projected cost of Ida’s damages is about $ 19 million. The city is working to remove excess trash from the hurricane, but it is only two-thirds of the way down, he said.

In addition to widespread flood damage, the Category 4 hurricane is credited with at least 29 deaths in the state, with Governor John Bel Edwards announcing the latest death on Tuesday. Excessive heat is responsible for 13 deaths and another six people died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Edwards said.

Restoration efforts in Louisiana have improved, but an electricity supplier said Nicholas could delay that progress.

“Heavy rains and high winds will be the main impacts in East Texas and Southwest Louisiana,” Entergy Louisiana warned in a statement Tuesday.

The company said it restored power to 91% of its customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. Complete restoration in the areas that suffered most of Ida’s flooding can be expected on Sept. 29, the utility company said.

As of early Wednesday morning, more than 74,000 customers were still without power in the state, according to PowerOutage.us

Houston residents should stay home, officials warn

Meanwhile, Texas was in clean-up operation after the system made landfall near the east of the Matagorda Peninsula, west-southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, around 1:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, with winds from 120 km / h.

Nicholas soaked Houston, dumping more than 6 inches of rain since Sunday, the National Weather Service said. Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in Deer Park, Texas. As of early Wednesday morning, more than 120,000 homes and businesses were in darkness, according to PowerOutage.us.

After the heavy rains, Houston officials asked residents to stay home Tuesday night while cleanup and power restoration efforts were underway.

“Dangerous conditions still exist and Houstonians are being asked to stay home tonight,” city officials said in a news release. “Power outages mean that some streetlights and traffic lights remain off and downed power lines can be in the road and difficult to see in the dark.”

More than 340 flights to or from Houston’s William P. Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental airports were canceled Tuesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. All Port Houston terminals were closed Tuesday but were expected to return to normal business hours on Wednesday, according to their official Twitter account.

Bart Stanley’s family has owned Stanley’s General Store in Matagorda, Texas, since 1964. The storm ripped the canopy off the gas station portion of the store, causing the worst damage it has seen in all that time.

“I came here to open our store so people can buy coffee, gas and whatever else they need because there is no other place 30 miles away,” he said.

CNN’s Gregory Lemos, Rebekah Riess and Raja Razek contributed to this report.