Storm Hanna Strengthens Into Hurricane, Heads Towards Texas In US

Satellite picture exhibits Hurricane Hannah within the Gulf of Mexico. (AFP)

Houston:

Texas, already battling a surge in coronavirus circumstances, was bracing Saturday after storm Hanna strengthened into the primary Atlantic hurricane of 2020, with meteorologists warning of heavy rain, storm surge and doubtlessly life-threatening flash flooding.

The storm, with wind speeds of round 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour), strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane in a single day and is predicted to make landfall by afternoon or early night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) stated.

It may carry storm surges of as much as 5 toes and drop as much as 18 inches of rain on components of south Texas, the NHC stated, warning of harmful flash flooding.

Hanna was about 85 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, at 10:00 am native time (1500 GMT), and was transferring west at about seven miles per hour, an NHC advisory stated.

Expected to make a slight flip later within the day, it “should make landfall along the Texas coast within the hurricane warning area this afternoon or early this evening,” the advisory continued.

Storm warnings had been already in impact alongside Texas’s Gulf Coast early Saturday. In Corpus Christi, a metropolis of 325,000, officers closed libraries and museums as residents braced for the storm, native media reported.

Hanna will roar ashore as Texas is already dealing with an enormous surge in coronavirus infections, with officers instituting a state-wide masks mandate to attempt to curb the unfold of the illness.

Two different storm techniques had been churning Saturday: Pacific Hurricane Douglas, bearing down on the Hawaiian islands, and Tropical Storm Gonzalo within the Atlantic, close to the Windward Islands.

Douglas — at one level a robust Category four hurricane — has weakened to a Category 2 storm with wind speeds of 105 miles per hour.

The NHC stated Saturday the storm would proceed to weaken because it approaches Hawaii, “potentially passing dangerously close to, or over, the islands late tonight through Sunday night,” bringing excessive winds and heavy surf.

Hurricane warnings had been in impact Saturday in Hawaii and Maui counties in addition to Oahu.

Meanwhile, Gonzalo was pouring heavy rain on the Windward Islands, however the tropical storm was anticipated to weaken and dissipate by Sunday night time.