Hurricane Hanna: FEMA Approves Emergency Declaration for Texas

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and President Donald Trump approved an Emergency Declaration in Texas after Hurricane Hanna made landfall, Governor Greg Abbott announced Sunday.

This means emergency measures to Texas can be provided by the government. Measures that FEMA approved of include reimbursement for some of the state's funds that go into evacuation and shelter support, ABC 13 Eyewitness News reported.

FEMA can grant 75% federal funding for Hurricane Hanna response.

Hurricane Hanna adds to the struggles of Southern Texas today, along with COVID-19, drought and economic distress, Texas Public Radio reported.

First Atlantic Hurricane

Hanna made landfall on Saturday evening on Padre Island, an island north of Corpus Christi City, according to National Hurricane Center.

It kept going with winds that run at 90 miles per hour made it a Category 1 hurricane. But it later on grew weaker to a storm of 35 mph winds.

Hanna is the first Atlantic hurricane in 2020. It made two landfalls on Saturday evening and spent a weekend with strong winds, heavy rains and widespread flooding.

Abbott said the state will keep on working hand in hand with partners as the damage brought by the storm is being assessed. He added that Texas may look for more help as they try to work on ways to respond, recover, and rebuild.

Rescue teams are using helicopters and boats to handle any rescues along the coast. The local and state emergency crews are still on alert to come to areas with major damage and floods.

As Hanna moved inland during the night and grew weaker into a tropical storm, more than 155,000 people were out of power in South Texas Sunday morning.

The City of Mission said on Twitter that power crews will need to shelter in place because of the strong winds and rain. "You're asked to only report downed power lines or safety hazards. Crews will continue to respond to outages when it's safe to do so," they said.

Even if Hanna has toned down into a tropical storm, people still have to be on high alert for chance of heavy rains, strong winds, flash floods and tornadoes.

Hurricane Meets Pandemic

In a news conference, Abbott said there is a challenge to having the hurricane and how hard and more severe it is, "seeing that it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for COVID-19."

Abbott also said Texas was prepared for Hurricane Hanna. This is even if there is an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

But he still warned residents to keep the pandemic in mind amidst the storm, CNN reported. He said that as people come together to shelter in place, the virus has higher chances to move from one person to another.

More than a foot of rain was seen in some parts of Texas as the storm crossed over to the northeast part of Mexico.

Water rescues also took place, mainly from cars stuck in high flood waters. Parts of US Highway 83 can't be passed through by car due to the floods.

Meanwhile, there were also forecasts of another likely tropical system that could build up across the Atlantic Ocean over the next five days.

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