Hanna becomes hurricane as it heads toward virus-weary Texas

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — Tropical Storm Hanna was upgraded to a hurricane Saturday, moving toward the Texas coast and threatening to bring heavy rain, storm surge and possible tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.

The storm, which is the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, was expected to make landfall Saturday afternoon or evening south of Corpus Christi, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was centered about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east-southeast of Corpus Christi and was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph).

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.

“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,” Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb said Friday. “We can do these two things together and we’re going to win both of them.”



A surfer catches a barrel ride Friday, July 24, 2020, as swell waves approach the coast of South Padre Island, Texas, due to Tropical Storm Hanna approaching the Texas Gulf Coast. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/9ad8058b3e666cf8b3f93b7ceb2ee1c4

[Auggie]

1. Thank goodness bars will be open

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142545511

[FailureToCommunicate]

2. That area can't catch a break! Rachel was just showing how overwhelmed that

area is with covid cases. And now, a hurricane swirls towards it.

[paleotn]

3. Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get worse.

[Xipe Totec]

4. Cue the locusts. nt

[paleotn]

6. Ugh! No doubt.

[noneof_theabove]

5. Fear Mongering and FUD

I live west of Corpus Christi, Nueces County.
About 65 miles north of land fall.
Rain here 3-6 inches and Brownsville [the valley] less wind but 6-8 inches rain
Land fall is south of Kleberg County and north end of Kenedy County.

Kenedy is nothing but about 10 LARGE ranches [King Ranch, Turcotte, etc] and some wind farms.
What lives there?
Cows, deer, hogs, coyotes, rattlesnakes and buzzards.
What is Kenedy CV-19 status?
3 total infections total. [see https://www.kiiitv.com/coronavirus-covid-19]
Population 404 [see https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/kenedycountytexas].
I tore up the right front side of my Mazda 3 on Jun 29 heading to the valley right before sunrise when a coyote ran out in front of me. Well the buzzards have to eat too.

These ranches are self sufficient, have their own law, fire, ems services, and prefer that you stay on Highway 77 and get the heck out of their county ASAP.
Thanks for visiting, don't go away mad, just go away.

Also they have expensive [ $3 million] lodges for hunters during season which is not now.
Remember a few years back when some politician got shot or shot one of the people with him.
It was Kenedy County on a ranch.

So there you have as Paul Harvey used to say "and that's the rest of the story".
I also like one from Discovery Channel show [Morgan Freeman host] "question everything."

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. Having lived through Tropical Storms Allison and Harvey

I will tell you that if the storm stalls and continues to pour down several inches of rain, day after day, in the same place, you're in trouble. There are a lot of hospitals in South Texas that are full to bursting with COVID-19 patients. Ventilators don't work when the power goes out.

[canetoad]

8. And Hurricane Douglas

Is just east of Hawaii moving W-NW