Hanna becomes a hurricane as it heads toward virus-weary Texas

Tropical storm Hanna was upgraded to a Hurricane on Saturday moving towards the Texas coast and threatening to bring heavy rain  Tom search and possible tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with the surge in the coronavirus cases.  The storm which is the first Hurricane of the 2020. Atlantic Hurricane season was expected to make landfall on Saturday afternoon or evening south of Corpus Christi, the US National Hurricane Centre said on Saturday morning.  It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was centered about Hundred Miles East Southeast of Corpus and was moving West at 9 mph. Many parts of Texas, including the area where Hanna is expected to come ashore, have been dealing with a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks but local officials said they were prepared for whatever the storm may bring.

Corpus Christi is in Nueces country,  where health officials made headlines when they revealed that 16 infants tested positive for COVID-19 from July 1 to 16. Further South in Cameron County, Which borders Mexico, more than 300 confirmed cases have been reported almost daily for the past two weeks, according to State Health figures. The past has also been the country’s deadliest of the pandemic. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, The country’s top elected official said he was awaiting word on Friday of whether hotels would be used to house recovering COVID-19 patience in order to free up hospital beds. If there is any benefit to be gained from this its that people have to stay at home for a weekend stated Trevino. The officials reminded residents to wear masks If they need to get supplies before the storm arrives or if they have to shelter with neighbors because of flooding. The main hazard from Hanna was expected rupee flash flooding. Chris Birchfield, a meteorologist with the national weather service in Brownsville, said on Friday. In the Mexican city of Matamoros,  located across the border from Brownsville,  volunteers worried whether the tropical Storm would affect a makeshift migrant camp near the Rio Grande where about 1300  asylum seekers including newborn babies and elderly residents are waiting under the US immigration policy e in formerly known as “Remain in Mexico”. Erin Hughes, Volunteer at the camp who is a civil engineer from Philadelphia said Tropical Storms pose a devastating threat since the camp is located on a floodplain and that others were monitoring the river’s water level.