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Hurricane Hanna roared ashore Saturday in parts of Texas that are among the hardest hit by COVID-19.

Hurricane Douglas, meanwhile, had its eye on Hawaii, where infections are on the rise.

It's a scenario that government leaders and emergency management officials in tropical storm zones have dreaded - and planned for - for months.

“Any hurricane is an enormous challenge," Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said in a press conference Saturday afternoon, as Hanna was battering South Texas. "This challenge is made even more severe seeing it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for COVID-19.”

Among the counties impacted by Hanna are Neuces, which reported 215 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. Officials planned to open a shelter in San Antonio, where the county health department said there were at least 299 new cases and 15 deaths on Friday.

As a whole, Texas has recorded more than 380,000 known cases of COVID-19, the fourth-highest number in the nation, and more than all but a half dozen other entire countries, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Abbott pleaded with residents not to take chances spreading the virus, saying that "just because a hurricane comes to a state, does not mean COVID-19 disappears." He implored people to wear masks and take other precautions.

“We cannot allow this hurricane to lead to a more catastrophic deadly event by stoking additional spread of COVID-19 that could lead to fatalities," Abbott said.

Seventeen mobile teams were deployed to administer rapid tests in shelters if needed, the governor said. Teams would also sanitize and clean. Abbott didn't say how many shelters officials would open as the storm continued to move inland with potentially life-threatening flooding, but at least one in San Antonio was prepared to house evacuees with medical needs. Others would be given vouchers to hotels if needed, he said, in order to prevent crowded shelter conditions.

Abbott said testing statewide could be delayed due to the storm.

In Hawaii, meanwhile, officials warned that shelter space would be limited. Maui County Mayor Mike Victorino told The Weather Channel in an interview Saturday that the county was considering using parking structures, where people could stay in their cars and possibly hotel rooms as shelters.

“We’re looking at all aspects with this pandemic, with COVID-19 and this storm bearing down on us," Victorino said. "We’ve got to be very creative."

Hawaii's numbers are low, with only about 1,500 cases reported, but new infections have reached record numbers in recent days.

Overall, the U.S. has more than 4.1 million known infections and at least 146,143 deaths, Worldwide, nearly 16 million cases have been confirmed and more than 641,000 have died.

Latest Developments

United States:

-Florida now has the second highest number of cases in the U.S. The state topped 414,511 known infections on Saturday, behind California's nearly 446,152. Both recently surged past New York, previously the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.

-Schools in Anchorage, Alaska will start the year with online classes only.

-Officials in Jackson, Mississippi, are bringing in a refrigerated cooler to help store bodies amid a surge in deaths from coronavirus, murder victims and car crashes, The Associated Press reported. Hospital morgues and private facilities are at capacity.

Worldwide:

- North Korea has reported a case of COVID-19 for the first time, according to CNN. The state-run Korean Central News Agency revealed the case on Sunday.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.