With Hurricane Hanna fast approaching South Texas, how is the Covid-19 hotspot preparing itself?
While South Texas is still reeling under the pressure of rising Covid-19 cases, the region now has to brace itself for tropical storm Hanna, which is expected to make landfall on Saturday, July 25. Local officials are expecting the storm to strengthen into a hurricane before it reaches the shore of Corpus Christi, on Saturday afternoon or early evening.
Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb has reassured the public that the city is well prepared to handle the situation. He said, "And 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. We can do these two things together and we're going to win both of them." Corpus Christi is located in Nueces County, one of the many Covid-19 hotspots in Texas. The county which is home to roughly 362,000 people, has seen a steep rise in the number of positive Covid-19 cases. As many as 60 infants were tested positive with the deadly virus between July 1 to July 16. Local officials have continued insisting that the residents wear a mask if they needed to step out for getting supplies.
According to reports, Hanna was about 165 miles (270 kilometers) east of Corpus Christi, according to the 10 pm CDT Friday advisory from the National Hurricane Center. It had maximum sustained winds around 65 mph (100 kph) but was expected to intensify as forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of the Texas coast. One of the biggest concerns with Hanna was the possibility of flash flooding. As per some estimates, areas of South Texas could see a range of 5 to 10 inches of rain, with some areas experiencing as high as 15 inches. The storm is expected to have wind gusts of up to 90 mph.
With such bleak reports in the horizon, Texas has already begun making necessary preparations to address the impending hurricane while tackling Covid-19. Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that various resources have been deployed to respond to the tropical storm warnings across the state, including search and rescue teams and aircrafts, alongside shelters.
