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Storm Hanna moves towards Texas coast as another approaches Caribbean Hurricane Hanna moves towards Texas as storm Gonzalo nears Caribbean
(about 3 hours later)
Hanna is first hurricane of 2020 Atlantic season and could bring 6in to 12in of rain through Sunday nightHanna is first hurricane of 2020 Atlantic season and could bring 6in to 12in of rain through Sunday night
Tropical Storm Hanna was upgraded to a hurricane on Saturday, moving towards the Texas coast and threatening to bring heavy rain, storm surge and tornadoes, all while another tropical storm, Gonzalo, approached the Caribbean. Hurricane Hanna rumbled toward the Texas Gulf coast on Saturday, lashing the shore with wind gusts and rain and threatening to bring storm surge and tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with a spike in coronavirus cases.
Hanna is the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a Saturday morning update. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 75mph and the storm was centered about 100 miles east-south-east of Corpus Christi, Texas, moving west at 9mph. Further east, Tropical Storm Gonzalo was still on track to move across the southern Windward Islands on Saturday afternoon or evening. In the west, Hawaii was bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Douglas, which was expected to weaken before coming close to the islands on Saturday and Sunday.
A storm surge warning in effect from Baffin Bay to Sargent was extended south of the bay to Port Mansfield, Texas. Storm surge up to 5ft was forecast for that area. People were advised to protect life and property from high water. In Texas, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season was expected to make landfall on Saturday afternoon or early evening south of Corpus Christi, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. As of late Saturday morning, it had maximum sustained winds of 80mph, was centered about 85 miles south-east of Corpus Christi and was moving west at 7mph.
Tornadoes were possible on Saturday for parts of the lower to middle Texas coastal plain, forecasters said. A hurricane warning remained in effect for Port Mansfield to Mesquite Bay, and a tropical storm warning was still in effect from Barra el Mezquital, Mexico, to Port Mansfield, Texas, and from Mesquite Bay to High Island, Texas. Many parts of Texas, including the area where Hanna was expected to come ashore, have been dealing with a surge in coronavirus cases. But local officials said they were prepared.
Forecasters said Hanna could bring 6in to 12in of rain through Sunday night, with isolated totals of 18 inches, in addition to coastal swells that could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. “Don’t feel like since we’ve been fighting Covid for five months, that we’re out of energy or we’re out of gas. We’re not,” Corpus Christi mayor Joe McComb said. “We can do these two things together and we’re going to win both of them.”
Tropical Storm Gonzalo was still on track to move across the southern Windward Islands on Saturday afternoon or evening. Gonzalo was moving west near 18mph with maximum sustained winds at 40mph, the NHC said. Corpus Christi is in Nueces county, where health officials made headlines when they revealed that 60 infants tested positive for Covid-19 from 1 to 16 July.
Farther south in Cameron county, which borders Mexico, more than 300 confirmed new cases have been reported almost daily for the past two weeks, according to state health figures. The past week has also been the county’s deadliest.
Cameron county judge Eddie Trevino, its top elected official, said he was awaiting word of whether hotels would be used to house recovering Covid-19 patients in order to free up hospital beds.
“If there’s any benefit to be gained from this, it’s that people have to stay at home for a weekend,” Trevino said.
Officials reminded residents to wear masks if they needed to get supplies before the storm or if they had to shelter with neighbors because of flooding.
The main hazard from Hanna was expected to be flash flooding, said Chris Birchfield, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville. Forecasters said Hanna could bring 6in to 12in of rain through Sunday night with isolated totals of 18in in addition to coastal swells that could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents.
Coastal states scrambled this spring to adjust emergency hurricane plans to account for the virus, and Hanna loomed as the first big test.
South Texas officials’ plans for rescues, shelters and monitoring of the storm will have the pandemic in mind. Governor Greg Abbott said various resources to respond to the storm were on standby, including search-and-rescue teams and aircraft. Trevino said shelters would keep families socially distanced.
In the Mexican city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, volunteers worried whether the storm would affect a makeshift migrant camp near the Rio Grande where about 1,300 asylum seekers, including newborn babies and elderly people, are waiting under the US immigration policy informally known as “Remain in Mexico”.
Erin Hughes, a volunteer at the camp, said storms posed a devastating threat since the camp is located on a floodplain, and that she and others were monitoring the river.
As of Saturday morning, there was a storm surge warning in effect for a stretch of coast south of Corpus Christi from Baffin Bay to Port Mansfield. Storm surge up to 5ft was forecast. People were advised to protect life and property from high water.
Tornadoes were also possible for parts of the lower to middle Texas coastal plain, forecasters said. A hurricane warning remained in effect for Port Mansfield to Mesquite Bay, north of Corpus Christi, and a tropical storm warning was in effect from Port Mansfield south to Barra el Mezquital, Mexico, and from Mesquite Bay north to High Island, Texas.
In the Caribbean, Gonzalo was moving west near 18mph with maximum sustained winds at 40mph, the NHC said on Saturday morning.
Gonzalo is forecast to bring 1in to 3in of rain, with isolated totals of 5in. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Tobago and Grenada and its dependencies. The storm was expected to dissipate by Sunday night or Monday, forecasters said.Gonzalo is forecast to bring 1in to 3in of rain, with isolated totals of 5in. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Tobago and Grenada and its dependencies. The storm was expected to dissipate by Sunday night or Monday, forecasters said.
Gonzalo and Hanna broke the record for the earliest seventh and eighth Atlantic named storms, respectively, according to the Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. The previous records were Gert on 24 July 2005 and Harvey on 3 August 2005. Douglas, the storm heading close to the Hawaiian islands, was a category 2 hurricane with winds of 105mph on Saturday. It was 440 miles east of Hilo and predicted to weaken as it passed over cooler waters.