As Hurricane Hanna approaches the Texas Gulf Coast, the “big story” of the Category 1 storm is likely to flood, Fox News meteorologist Cheif Rick Reichmuth said Saturday.
In an interview on “Cavuto LIVE,” Reichmuth told host David Asman that the center of the storm is likely to be about 70 miles from the coast and to the west.
HANNA BECOMES THE FIRST ATLANTIC SEASON HURRICANE, HEADS TOWARDS THE TEXAS COAST
As of Saturday morning, Hurricane Hanna had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph) and was moving at 7 mph (11 kph).
While hurricanes typically begin to increase around the second week of August through October, Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, is already the eighth storm this year.
“Eventually, he’s going to do a little work in the southwest, it looks like he’ll hit land like a hurricane in the next few hours, probably first thing in the afternoon,” he said.
“And, somewhere around South Padre Island … But, once you go to the other side of that barrier island, there is a lot of population that will have some pretty big impacts from this,” he added. “And most of all, that is going to be a really significant total rainfall.”
The main concern for Reichmuth is the flooding of that rain. However, deadly storm surges and a storm of up to five feet were forecast for a stretch of coast south of Corpus Christi. There is also the possibility of a tornado in the same area.
“Some of those totals will probably be in some places towards 15 inches of rain. Many areas in the 7-10 inches of rain,” he explained. “And I am concerned that this could cause a lot of flooding. The floods will probably be the most important story for us here.”
A stranded motorist escapes flooding on Interstate 225 after Hurricane Harvey flooded the Gulf Coast of Texas with heavy flooding rains, in Houston, Texas, USA, August 27, 2017. REUTERS / Nick Oxford TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY – RTX3DJQ9
(REUTERS / Nick Oxford)
According to The Associated Press, forecasters also said that total isolated precipitation could reach up to 18 inches (46 centimeters).
That said, Reichmuth noted that Hurricane Hanna will likely move “pretty fast” in isolation along the Rio Grande Valley and “should be ready by tomorrow afternoon.”
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“But, a lot of rain from this storm. And again, David, here we are in our eighth storm. We have a lot of hurricane season ahead. This is also, incidentally, a COVID hotspot in parts of South Texas,” he concluded. . “So people have to deal with that in addition to the storm.”
While officials say they are ready for Hurricane Hanna, this is the first major test of the storm season amid the pandemic.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
