Two disasters in Nueces County as pandemic, hurricane response continue

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Waves near Bob Hall Pier as Hurricane Hanna nears landfall Corpus Christi Caller Times

Nueces County is, indefinitely, under two declarations of disaster – responding to COVID-19 spread, as well as Hurricane Hanna’s tear through landscape.

Friday, county commissioners re-upped its disaster declaration for Hanna-related mitigation, first approved last week. The pre-existing disaster declaration for pandemic relief – in effect for months – is unchanged.

The move is primarily administrative – a disaster declaration facilitates securing state and federal funding.

In the case of Nueces County, storm damage to public and personal assets is expected to carry bills easily reaching into the tens of millions of dollars.

Category 1 Hurricane Hanna made its first landfall Saturday near Port Mansfield – but before its on-shore arrival, Hanna’s outer bands brought in at some area locations as much as six feet of storm surge and 70 mph winds.

The storm’s onslaught visibly targeted North Padre Island’s county-owned Bob Hall Pier – the end swallowed by waves, its walkway crumbled into uneven chunks of construction materials.

Near downtown, portions of North Beach – a destination and neighborhood on the rise – were, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, beneath the Corpus Christi Bay waters.

City crews for at least two days focused on restorative efforts, including cleaning out stormwater infrastructure.

The Texas General Land Office will be taking point on clearing area debris around  Bob Hall Pier, setting into motion pre-positioned contracts, said Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales on Friday. That work is expected to start immediately.

Damage assessments of the pier, meanwhile, are underway.

Should just the structure itself need to be replaced, it could cost as much as $10 million, Canales said.

Among additional damages attributed to the storm are the roof of the county’s coastal parks office, as well as agricultural crops, she said.

More:A breakdown of Hurricane Hanna damage, aftermath

More:Amid COVID-19 crisis, hurricane season brings new challenges

Kirsten Crow covers government, industry and development in South Texas.Support local news by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe  

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