Gov. Abbott praises Hurricane Hanna response during visit to Corpus Christi

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas Gov. Greg Abbot visited Corpus Christi on Tuesday to survey the damage left by Hurricane Hanna, which made landfall over the weekend.

During his visit, Abbot met with local officials and gave a news conference addressing the state’s response to the storm.

Abbott said he was happy to report that despite the damage and the strength of the storm, there were no lives lost, which is always the top priority for Texas. He also thanked rescuers who put their own lives on the line to help Texans who needed it.

“They are one of the reasons there were no deaths,” Abbott said.

According to Abbott, some beach and street erosion took place, as well as damage to Bob Hall Pier, the aquarium and the art museum in the area.

The governor said after storms, one of the priorities is removing debris and repairing damage made by the storm. During his meeting with local officials, Abbott said they talked about options to quickly remove debris.

According to Abbott, most residents should have power and work is being done to restore power to the remaining few who still have not gotten it back.

No area residents are in shelters at this time, which Abbott said is good because it shows people still have homes or shelters and there is less risk for COVID-19 spread.

Abbott said it is important that as they work to recover from the storm, people remember to continue taking necessary precautions against the spread of coronavirus.

“Just because a hurricane has swept through here, does not mean that it has swept out COVID-19,” Abbott said. “COVID-19 is still here. It is not going away. Until there are medicines capable of treating it, there is only one thing that we can do ... and that is (following) the best practices.”

Abbott also reminded people that just because they are with family, it doesn’t mean people should relax and assume they will not spread COVID-19.

“If you let down your guard, it will lead to an increase of COVID-19,” Abbott said.

You can watch the full news conference below.