WESLACO, Texas – As recovery and cleanup efforts began Monday in South Texas following Hanna’s dismantling, concerned citizens faced the prospect of undertaking this effort amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases that has left many fears about fitness.
Hanna, now a tropical depression, 105 km north of Fresnillo in Mexico’s Zacatecas state, as its winds weakened at about 40 km/h, the National Hurricane Center said. His remains still threaten to bring rain and flash flooding to the flooded spaces of southern Texas and northern Mexico.
For Nora Esquivel, 66, who has most commonly stayed at her home in Weslaco, Texas, in Hidalgo County since March due to the pandemic, flood damage at her home in Hanna meant a greater chance of exposure to the virus.
“I don’t touch anyone, alone with my daughter from time to time, and now with this I have to let other people come to my house, sure and all that and it scares me,” Esquivel said, who takes courage in tears. and had to be rescued from her home on Sunday morning through her son in a kayak.
“All my friends are dying. Array.. I fear for my family, for everyone, not just for me and it’s the whole world.
In the aftermath of Hanna, which dumped up to 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain in some parts of South Texas and Northern Mexico, officials reported two people died in the northern Mexican city of Ramos Arispe, near Monterrey, after torrents of water unleashed by Hanna swept their vehicle away. Three people were reported missing in Monterrey and three more were missing in the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, according to Mexico’s national civil defense office.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the state sent more control material and hospital staff to Hanna-affected communities in South Texas to ensure that the typhoon did not aggravate the spread of the virus.
“The spread of COVID can be much more fatal than the damage caused by the storm,” Abbott said on KRGV-TV. He was planning to go to the injured spaces on Tuesday.
The passerby asked citizens to adhere to the rules of social estrangement and to wear a mask if they had to leave their homes and move to a shelter. Authorities said the shelters had been set up to be as much as possible, with temperature checks through on-site medical staff. Some were accommodated in hotel rooms.
Border communities affected through Hanna were already subject to COVID-19 cases: some patients were airlifted to major cities.
Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday that “in a strange way” the hurricane might have helped with the county’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases because the storm made people stay at home.
In Cameron County, next to Hidalgo County, officials said they were grateful that the hurricane did not overwhelm their hospitals, which continue to face an accident of COVID-19 patients.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., the county’s top elected official, said there were reports of at least 150 flooded homes and some roadways were still impassable due to high water, but for the most part the county was doing well.
“I think we’re very fortunate that the typhoon caused primary and primary flooding and there were no loss of life,” he said.
But Cameron County remained involved in the pandemic, as the following week’s instances rose to 2,587, more than the total from mid-March to July 1. There are more than 7,800 cases in the county. Deaths have increased to 81 in the following week, Trevio said. A week ago, the county had 96 dead.
North of Cameron County, Nueces County, Corpus Christi reported that 60 babies underwent COVID-19 testing from July 1 to 16.
“The typhoon passed (COVID-19),” said Peter Zanoni, city director of Corpus Christi, adding that officials remained involved on Monday about the number of local coronavirus cases, adding 16 kills over the weekend.
Coastal states rushed this spring to adjust hurricane contingency plans to take into account the virus, and Hanna the first primary test.
Abbott announced Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved an emergency statement that will provide federal assistance.
Hanna exploded as a category 1 typhoon defeated on Saturday afternoon with winds of 145 km/h not coming from Port Mansfield, about 210 km south of Corpus Christi.
As of Monday night, 50,600 consumers remained powerless throughout South Texas, adding Corpus Christi, Harlingen and McAllen, application officials said. That’s below a peak of 200, 000 on Sunday morning.
Officials across South Texas were still assessing Hanna’s injury on Monday. In Hidalgo County, some settlements, unin incorporated and low-income spaces along the U.S.-Mexico border, had been flooded through several meters of water, Cortez said.
Hanna arrived nearly 3 years after Hurricane Harvey exploded northeast of Corpus Christi, killing 68 other people and causing damage estimated at $125 billion in Texas.
In the Mexican city of Matamoros, off Brownsville, more than 1,300 asylum seekers, adding newborns and the elderly, in a refugee camp are preparing for the aftermath of the Rio Grande floods due to Hanna. The river is expected to grow and probably flood the camp in the coming days.
Chloe Rastatter, a volunteer engineer at the camp, said the UN was working with the Mexican government to plan the resettlement of migrants.
On the Mexican border the city of Reynosa, a maternity hospital broken by heavy rains, some patients were transferred to the upper floors and others evacuated to other facilities, said Pedro Granados, director of civil coverage of the state of Tamaulipas.
In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, Hawaii on Monday a direct hit from Hurricane Douglas when the typhoon moved away from Hawaii’s major islands.
Lozano reported from Houston. Associated Press editors Mark Stevenson in Mexico City and Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, contributed to the report.
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