Tropical Storm Hanna drenches South Texas amid virus crisis

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A day after roaring ashore as a hurricane, Hanna lashed the Texas Gulf Coast on Sunday with high winds and drenching rains that destroyed boats, flooded streets and knocked out power across a region already reeling from a surge in coronavirus cases.

Downgraded to a tropical storm, Hanna passed over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 mph (85 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. It unloaded more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain on parts of South Texas and northeastern Mexico.

Border communities whose health care systems were already strained by COVID-19 cases — with some patients being airlifted to larger cities — found themselves under siege from the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season. There were no immediate reports of any deaths on either side of the border.

Coastal states scrambled this spring to adjust emergency hurricane plans to account for the virus, and Hanna was the first big test. Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that some people in need of shelter would be given hotel rooms to keep them apart from others.

Abbott announced Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved an emergency declaration that will provide federal aid.

Hanna blew ashore as a Category 1 storm late Saturday afternoon with winds of 90 mph not far from Port Mansfield, which is about 130 miles south of Corpus Christi.

Hanna came nearly three years after Hurricane Harvey blew ashore northeast of Corpus Christi. Hanna was not expected to be as destructive as Harvey, which killed 68 people and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas.

In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, Hurricane Douglas closed in on Hawaii over the weekend.

Eric Gay / Associated Press Allen Heath surveys the damage to a private marina after it was hit by Hurricane Hanna on Sunday in Corpus Christi, Texas. Heath's boat and about 30 others were lost or damaged.