Virus-weary Texas braces as Hurricane Hanna arrives

Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season, has made landfall in Texas, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

"Hurricane Hanna made landfall on Padre Island, Texas at 2200 GMT with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph", the NHC said.

The first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall about 15 miles (24 kilometres) north of Port Mansfield, which is about 130 miles (209 km) south of Corpus Christi and about 70 miles (113 km) north of Brownsville. 

Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb said on Saturday that he had seen some residents doing last-minute shopping for supplies, but he warned that if that hadn't been done already, people should stay at home and ride out the storm.

“We’ve been staying at home for five months because of the corona(virus). ... So staying home doesn’t sound real popular, but right now this is a real important matter,” McComb said, adding that residents should remember to wear masks if they have to evacuate their homes.

Steady rain fell on Saturday in Corpus Christi and the winds got stronger.

Shortly after the landfall, the NHC twitted that the storm has made a second landfall and it is over southern Texas with continuous heavy rains.

Coronavirus precautions 

The coast between Corpus Christi and Brownsville has struggled to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 in recent weeks. 

Cases along the state's coast have soared into the tens of thousands, and more than 400 people in Corpus Christi's city of 325,000 were hospitalised with the novel coronavirus on Friday, according to city data.

On Friday, residents in several Texas communities in Kleberg County, south of Corpus Christi, were urged to evacuate their homes ahead of Hanna's arrival.

Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb warned residents who live in flood-prone areas to heed coronavirus precautions when deciding to evacuate, the Texas Tribune reported.

"Take several masks with you because you might be there a couple days if you're in a flood area," McComb said, according to the Tribune. "We don't want to expose anyone during this storm...Even when you're in the house, I recommend wearing a mask if you're in crowded conditions."

Hanna will be the second named storm this season to make landfall along the US Gulf of Mexico, after Tropical Storm Cristobal, which hit Louisiana in early June. 

Hanna could bring a life-threatening storm surge, with up to 15 inches of rain in pockets of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

The storm is not expected to affect offshore oil and gas production. Energy companies have not evacuated workers or shut down production from their Gulf of Mexico platforms because of Hanna.

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