Hanna downgraded to tropical storm, but 'catastrophic flooding' remains possible in Texas

Tropical Storm Hanna.
(Image credit: NOAA via AP)

Hurricane Hanna made landfall in Texas twice as a Category 1 storm Saturday before the National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a tropical storm once again Sunday morning. At that point, Hanna had maximum sustained 60 mile per hour winds.

Despite weakening, the storm is still dangerous, and parts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas are on alert. Tidal surges, dangerous surf, and tornadoes all remain possibilities, but heavy rainfall presents the most significant threat, The Associated Press reports. Forecasters said Hanna could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain through Sunday night, with isolated totals of 18 inches. "We're not even close to over at this point," said Chris Birchfield, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Brownsville, Texas. "We're still expecting catastrophic flooding."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.