page_title: Hurricane Hanna (2020)
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Hanna (2020) / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Tropical Storm Hanna over the western Gulf of Mexico on July 24, 2020
context_page_description: Hurricane Hanna was the first Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in Texas in the month of July since Dolly in 2008. The eighth named storm and first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Hanna developed from a tropical wave originating near Hispaniola. This disturbance dropped heavy rain over parts of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Florida. The wave gradually became more organized and developed into a tropical depression in the central portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The depression strengthened into a tropical storm on July 24, setting a new record for earliest eighth-named storm in the basin, getting its name 10 calendar days before the previous record holder, Tropical Storm Harvey of 2005. Hanna steadily intensified as it drifted toward Southern Texas, becoming the season's first hurricane early on July 25 before quickly strengthening and making landfall later in the day. Hanna made landfall at 22:00 UTC later that day as a high-end Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and a minimum central pressure of 973 mbar. Along the way it dumped up to 18 inches of rain in isolated areas in Southern Texas and Mexico.
context_section_description: The National Weather Service first issued a tropical storm watch for the coast of Texas between Port Mansfield and High Island at 03:00 UTC on July 23 when Tropical Depression Eight—the precursor to Hurricane Hanna—was first designated. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) organized personnel and assets from state agencies to assist local preparations for the approaching storm. These included search-and-rescue teams from Texas A&M Task Force 1 and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety also provided aircraft, mainly helicopters, for similar purposes. Search and rescue and cleanup crews were also readied for Hanna's aftermath. The United States Coast Guard urged mariners to clear the waters off the Texas coast and bring large vessels to safety at inland marinas. While Hanna was not expected to pose a significant threat to the Houston area, local emergency management placed high-water rescue trucks and crews on standby. The active tropical storm watch was superseded by a tropical storm warning between Port Mansfield and San Luis Pass at 21:00 UTC on July 23. The next day, a hurricane warning was issued for the Texas coast between Baffin Bay and Mesquite Bay; the warning was later expanded southward to Port Mansfield. Additionally, a tornado watch was issued for a portion of Southeast Texas.
  The Padre Island National Seashore and beaches along the Nueces Bay and the Gulf of Mexico around Corpus Christi were closed in anticipation of storm-enhanced tides. Both Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi and Del Mar College limited operations amid the storm's passage. Hanna threatened Texas concurrent with an increase in viral cases associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. At least one drive-through testing site for COVID-19 was closed in Corpus Christi in preparation for Hanna while the pandemic limited the amount of emergency management personnel in the Rio Grande Valley. Both the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority and the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council cancelled their bus services for two days. The Port of Corpus Christi closed to all ship traffic on July 24 and Corpus Christi International Airport cancelled most flights on July 25.
  A local state of disaster lasting seven days was declared by County Judge Richard F. Cortez in Hidalgo County on July 25 due to the threat of "catastrophic flooding." A state of disaster was also declared in Cameron County and San Patricio County.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 32 counties across South Texas later that day shortly before Hanna struck the state. Abbott also appealed for a federal disaster declaration and public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Several counties and municipalities distributed sandbags ahead of Hanna's arrival. Willacy County officials recommended the evacuation of people from Port Mansfield. A voluntary evacuation order for Baffin Bay, Loyola Beach, Ricardo, and Riviera was issued by Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid, while a voluntary evacuation was recommended by San Patricio County Judge David R. Krebs for vulnerable areas. Evacuation shelters were opened across the Rio Grande Valley. A FEMA Dome was opened as a shelter in Kingsville at H.M. King High School and the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio was repurposed as a reception center for evacuees with assistance from the American Red Cross.  The Texas National Guard and state agencies sent 17 teams to test evacuees for COVID-19. In Guadalupe, Nuevo León, a Mexican league soccer match was postponed as a precautionary measure.
caption: Tropical Storm Hanna intensifying over the Gulf of Mexico on July 24
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