Tropical storm Nicholas has been downgraded from a hurricane after making landfall on the Texas coast in the US, bringing heavy rain and the risk of life-threatening flooding. The storm was upgraded to a hurricane after reaching land at 00:30 (05:30 GMT), but has now weakened. More than 500,000 power outages have been reported in Texas, according to PowerOutage.us. President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Louisiana.

It comes just weeks after Hurricane Ida – the fifth strongest to ever hit the US mainland – killed dozens and left more than a million Louisiana residents without power. (BBC)…[+]