Free Republic

The brunt of Hanna is taking aim on south Texas. Hurricane Hanna has strengthened and is sustaining winds of 80 mph. The Category 1 hurricane is moving to the west at 8 mph and the center is currently about 50 miles ENE of Port Mansfield, Texas. Very heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge are currently impacting the south Texas coast, the worst of it south of Corpus Christi, down along the coast to the mouth of the Rio Grande River. The western eye wall is now along the coast there. While wind/storm surge are notable impacts along the coast...

  COURTESY PHOTO Ocean Tower was to be South Padre’s newest luxury skyscraper before it started sinking during building.     BROWNSVILLE — The company that imploded the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, the Seattle Kingdome and the RCA Dome in Indianapolis has been hired to demolish Ocean Tower, an unfinished condominium tower that has been sinking into the sands of South Padre Island. The 31-story building, since dubbed the “Leaning Tower of Padre,” is now the subject of a $125 million lawsuit against Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc. of San Antonio and Datum Engineering of Austin. Zachry Construction Corp., which was working on the...