Three days after Hurricane Hanna crashed into southern Texas and the Rio Grande Valley last Saturday with torrential rainfall and 90-mph winds, much of the region remains underwater and without electricity. As of Tuesday morning, 50,000 customers across southern Texas still had no electricity.
Eight to 15 inches of rainfall flooded areas from Corpus Christi to Brownsville, and westward to the Texas-Mexico border.
Some sections of Interstate 2 are still covered with high water between Harlingen and Pharr. Many secondary routes are still closed due to the flooding as of Tuesday morning, disrupting freight flows across southern Texas, as well as between the region and Mexico.
As recently as Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as state and local agencies in Texas, continued to rescue people who were stuck in the floodwaters.
In the McAllen area, the Hidalgo County Courthouse and all county offices were closed Monday because of flooding and power outages, according to KVEO-TV. However, the county tweeted Monday evening that the courthouse would reopen the next day.
Padre Island National Seashore was damaged on both sides of the island and will remain closed until further notice.
Hanna’s storm surge flooded Corpus Christi’s North Beach area and topped the seawall in other parts of downtown.
According to KIII-TV, flooding damaged the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. The animals are safe, a spokeswoman told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. A dock was destroyed where a research vessel was moored.
Water also entered the lower level of the Art Museum of South Texas, flooding classrooms and labs.
“We’re dealing with around 3 inches of water on our lower level,” the museum’s marketing coordinator Kirby Tello told KRIS-TV. “But all of our permanent collection is in the vault on our second level. And so, none of our artwork has been damaged.”
At Corpus Christi’s Marina del Sol, boats sank and piers were badly damaged by the storm.
Three people had to be rescued from a sailboat sinking in Marina del Sol late Saturday. A water rescue team from Texas A&M Task Force 1 used two inflatable Zodiac boats to reach the endangered sailboat as 65-mph winds roiled the waters. Two people in their 80s and the 40-year-old owner were in the sailboat.
The Bob Hall Pier, one of the most popular features on Padre Island, lost its concrete walkway and its T-head in the storm surge.
Even though the storm is long gone, National Weather Service (NWS) flood warnings and flash flood watches remain in place across southern Texas due to the return of scattered showers and thunderstorms Tuesday. Fortunately, rain chances decrease after Tuesday.