Hurricane Hannah kick-started the Atlantic hurricane season when it crossed over from the sea to Southern Texan shores on Saturday, July 25, with intense air currents, torrential downpours and severe storms. The following day, on Sunday, July 26, it followed its southwest course and crossed the national border into Mexico with heavy rains across the Rio Grande Valley. A second hurricane like phenomenon is slowly gaining momentum in the sea which could cause trouble in the days to come.
Many places in South Texas have received rain in excess of 15 inches and the final tally could be much more by the end of this week.
The timing of Hurricane Hannah couldn’t have been worse as many South Texas counties along the shore are seeing a sharp rise in patients testing postive for COVID-19. Official authorities in the state are under severe pressure to efficiently utilize available storm shelters while simultaneously containing the virus.
Brownsville in Cameron County for instance has registered nearly four thousand new COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks. Other counties such as Hidalgo County have also been severely hit.
There was widespread disruption of electricity supply for hundreds of thousands of residents over the weekend. Restoration efforts are also being delayed owing to safety hazards and residents are being advised to brace themselves for more power cuts.
Hurricane Hannah was already a Category 1 storm when it arrived on Texan shores this weekend with air currents of almost 100 miles per hour that have in turn caused a rise in sea levels in many places such as Matagorda Bay and Port Lavaca. There has been no shortage either of heavy downpour, inundations or water logging. Warning alarms were being repeatedly broadcast on Sunday.
The cities of Mission and McAllen in Hidalgo County were badly hit with severe floods. Citizens in these cities were advised by official authorities to remain indoors and avoid venturing outside as there could be a sudden and unexpected resurgence in rainfall at any moment.
As a preventive measure, Hidalgo County had been on disaster alert well before Hurricane Hannah’s arrival as weather experts had forecasted dangerous levels of downpour.
While South Texas has survived the worst of Hurricane Hannah, it must stay prepared for yet another hurricane to be referred to Isaias if it emerges and makes landfall. Weather experts have already stated that there it is very likely for this other storm-like phenomenon that is gaining momentum in the Atlantic ocean to turn into a tropical depression during the course of this week, which in turn could lead to another hurricane.
By late afternoon on Sunday, Hurricane Hannah had gone past Monterrey in Mexico and had dwindled to a nine miles per hour depression. Hurricane Hannah would have grown in intensity and caused a lot more damage if its landfall had been delayed by even a day.
Source: : https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/26/hanna-south-texas/
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