Yahoo News Hurricane Hanna 'destroys part of Donald Trump's US-Mexico border wall'
Officials are investigating after a video emerged on social media appearing to show a newly constructed part of the wall between the United States and Mexico collapsing as the first hurricane of the season passed over the border.
Hurricane Hanna left a trail of destruction on both sides of the border on Sunday as powerful winds and torrential rain brought down power lines, flooded streets and toppled 18-wheeler trucks.
A video shared on social media shows construction workers looking on as winds appeared to topple a portion of Donald Trump's infamous wall.
Roderick Kise, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection in the Rio Grande Valley, told the Caller Times newspaper in Corpus Christi that his agency was looking into reports that winds had caused part of the wall to collapse.
Mr Kise said he was checking with authorities in Washington, but at first glance he did not believe the 39-second clip was from Texas. He said the hurricane hit the area at night, but the clip appears to have been shot during the day.
Hanna blew ashore as a Category 1 storm late on Saturday afternoon with winds of 90mph not far from Port Mansfield, which is about 130 miles south of Corpus Christi.
It was downgraded to a tropical depression and passed over the border on Sunday with winds near 50mph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
It unleashed more than 30cm of rain in some areas, and more is expected on Monday.
Governor Greg Abbott said the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the storm a federal emergency and would help fund evacuation and shelter efforts.
"I continue to urge Texans to heed the guidance from their local leaders and follow best practices to keep themselves and their loved ones safe as severe weather continues to move through our communities," he said in a statement.
Forecasters said the storm could dump at least 45cm of rain in isolated areas of southern Texas on Monday.
"This rain will produce life-threatening flash flooding, rapid rises on small streams, and isolated minor-to-moderate river flooding," the NHC said.
In the Mexican border city of Reynosa, a maternity hospital was damaged by the heavy rain and water had to be pumped out, authorities said.
Some patients had to be moved to upper floors and a few were evacuated to other hospitals, said Pedro Granados, director of civil protection for Tamaulipas state.
In the Mexican city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, the heavy rain and winds shook tents in a refugee camp housing an estimated 1,300 asylum seekers, who have been waiting for months for court dates under a US immigration policy informally known as "Remain in Mexico".
