Nicholas brings high winds, rains to Houston

Tropical storm Nicholas brought high winds and rain to the southeast coast of Texas this morning, knocking out power to more than 450,000 customers in the Houston area, according to utility CenterPoint Energy.

The storm briefly reached hurricane status as it came ashore at about 1:30am ET 20 miles southwest of Freeport, Texas, with 75mph sustained winds. The system is expected to continue to bring strong winds and heavy rains to other key energy hubs in Texas and Louisiana today, including the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas, area and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Ports from Corpus Christi, Texas, through Houston were closed to incoming traffic yesterday and refineries and terminals braced for winds and storm surge. The ports remain open but with restrictions this morning, according to the US Coast Guard.

Tanker lightering operations off Corpus Christi, Galveston, Texas, and Sabine Pass on the Texas/Louisiana border were discontinued as the system approached and remain shut this morning.