Hanna hammering South Texas, hit hard by coronavirus, with flooding rains

The season’s first Atlantic hurricane made landfall in South Texas on Saturday evening, unleashing strong winds, flooding rainfall, an inundating storm surge and several tornadoes after rapidly intensifying early this weekend. On Sunday morning, Hanna continued its march southwest as a tropical storm, slipping into Mexico while still lashing the Rio Grande Valley with prolific rainfall. Meanwhile, meteorologists are cautiously watching another brewing system in the Atlantic that could become problematic by late in the week.

Hanna has unloaded more than 15 inches of rain in parts of South Texas, resulting in serious flash flooding, and totals may exceed 18 inches in some areas before rain ends late Sunday or Monday.

The direct strike by Hanna comes at a time when the Lone Star State is grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases. Counties in coastal South Texas have seen some of the sharpest increases in coronavirus cases in the entire state. The overlapping pandemic and landfalling hurricane complicated decisions surrounding the implementation and operation of storm shelters and the response of government agencies.

In Cameron County, which includes the city of Brownsville, cumulative coronavirus cases climbed from 3,854 on July 12 to 7,846 on July 25, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, climbing by about 300 per day during that two-week period. Hidalgo County, which includes McAllen, has the third-highest total of covid-19 fatalities in Texas, with 456 as of Saturday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/hanna-hammering-south-texas-hit-hard-by-coronavirus-with-flooding-rains/ar-BB17d4fw?li=BBnb7Kz