HOUSTON, July 26 — Hurricane Hanna strengthened on Saturday as it neared the Texas coast and threatened an area of the country that has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic in recent weeks.

Hurricane-force winds were already battering barrier islands just off the southeastern Texas coast, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in a bulletin, warning that a potentially deadly storm surge is likely across a broad swath of land.

After it makes landfall in the coming hours, Hanna is forecast to move inland over south Texas tonight and into northeastern Mexico today, potentially spawning powerful tornadoes on the coastal plains.

“Any hurricane is an enormous challenge,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a Saturday briefing about the storm. “This challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing that it’s sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for Covid-19.”

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Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 32 counties in Texas that are in the storm’s path.

Hanna is the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season and one that will be like no other in recent memory, as the coronavirus pandemic complicates everything from figuring out how to social distance in emergency shelters to finding bed space for anyone hurt in the storm in hospitals that are packed with Covid-19 patients.

The storm was located about 115 km south of Corpus Christi in Texas, packing maximum sustained winds of 145 kph yesterday afternoon, the NHC said.

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“The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the Miami-based forecaster said.

On Padre Island, where forecasters said hurricane-force winds were offshore yesterday afternoon, pelting rain and strong gusts of wind were rocking palm trees and the beach was already underwater, according to video footage on Twitter.

Hanna could bring flash flooding, with up to 38 cm of rain in pockets of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

The storm is not expected to affect offshore oil and gas production. Energy companies have not evacuated workers or shut down production from their Gulf of Mexico platforms because of Hanna.

Hanna is projected to come ashore between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, a region that has struggled to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 in recent weeks. Cases along the state’s coast have soared into the tens of thousands, and more than 400 people in Corpus Christi’s city of 325,000 were hospitalized with the novel coronavirus on Friday, according to city data.

Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb warned residents who live in flood-prone areas to heed coronavirus precautions when deciding to evacuate.

“Take several masks with you because you might be there a couple days if you’re in a flood area,” McComb said, according to the Tribune. “We don’t want to expose anyone during this storm. ... Even when you’re in the house, I recommend wearing a mask if you’re in crowded conditions.” — Reuters