South Texas drenched by cyclone amidst rise in infection cases

• Hanna passed over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 miles per hour, the National Cyclone Center said.
• A neighborhood building known as the “Dome” in Mercedes, Texas, was set aside for evacuees who had evaluated positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to the infection.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott revealed Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Firm authorized an emergency situation statement that will offer federal aid.

  Downgraded to a tropical anxiety, Hanna passed over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 mph (85 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

  Border neighborhoods whose health care systems were already strained by COVID-19 cases— with some patients being airlifted to bigger cities– discovered themselves under siege from the very first cyclone of the 2020 Atlantic season.

  Dr. Ivan Melendez, the health authority in Hidalgo County, Texas, was treating a client overnight at a hospital when he and a nurse discovered water streaming down a wall and pooling on the floor.

  After driving house in the storm in the middle of the night, Melendez was trapped Sunday early morning in his house by downed trees and had no electrical energy. He used the phone to discuss whether to put a 58- year-old female on a ventilator, a decision he felt uneasy making without seeing the client personally.

  ” You look at the people’s eyes,” he said. “You’ll understand if they remain in anguish.”

  Another medical professional chose to place the woman on the ventilator, he stated later.

  Henry Van De Putte, CEO of the Red Cross’ Texas Gulf Coast chapter, stated the company would open more shelters with reduced capability to make sure social distancing. Volunteers and people seeking sanctuary will go through temperature level checks, and a medical professional will be appointed to each place, he stated.

  A community building known as the “Dome” in Mercedes, Texas, was reserved for evacuees who had actually checked positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to the infection. Across the area, shelters were likewise opened in hotels, schools and health clubs.

  Van De Putte highlighted that people need to not delay seeking help due to the fact that of the virus.

  ” Yes, coronavirus supplies risk, but so does floodwater, so does not having electricity, so does not having needed medications,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can do possible to make it a safe environment.”

  In the Mexican border city of Reynosa, a maternity healthcare facility was damaged by heavy rain, and water had to be drained, authorities said. Some clients needed to be relocated to upper floorings, and a couple of were evacuated to other medical facilities, said Pedro Granados, director of civil security for Tamaulipas state.

  Abbott announced Sunday that the Federal Emergency situation Management Agency approved an emergency declaration that will offer federal aid.

  Hanna blew ashore as a Classification 1 storm late Saturday afternoon with winds of 90 mph (145 kph) not far from Port Mansfield, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Corpus Christi.

  Myrle Tucker, 83, tried to ride out the storm in a powerboat docked in a Corpus Christi marina.

  ” They picked me up,” he said.

  More than 150,000 consumers lost power Sunday throughout South Texas, including Corpus Christi, Harlingen and Brownsville, utility authorities stated.

  Corpus Christi is in Nueces County, where 60 infants tested favorable for COVID-19 from July 1 to July16

  Hanna came nearly 3 years after Cyclone Harvey blew ashore northeast of Corpus Christi. Hanna was not expected to be as damaging as Harvey, which killed 68 individuals and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas.

  In the Mexican city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, the rains shook tents in a refugee camp housing an estimated 1,300 asylum candidates, including babies and elderly individuals, who have actually been awaiting months for court dates under a U.S. immigration policy informally referred to as “Remain in Mexico.”

  In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, Hurricane Douglas closed in on Hawaii over the weekend.

  ___

  Merchant reported from Houston. Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City and Desiree Seals in Atlanta added to this report.

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