Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday the impact of Hurricane Laura "could've been much worse," noting that storm surge was much less severe than projected.

Heavy winds knocked down trees and some homes lost power. But many residents around Port Arthur are breathing a sigh of relief after the storm passed without causing major damage to the area.

As of 12 p.m. ET Thursday, 578,911 customers were without power in Louisiana, and in Texas, 139,307 people were in the dark, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

Heavy rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding continue after Tropical Storm Hanna hit South Texas. Meanwhile, Hurricane Douglas is closing in on the islands of Hawaii.

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Dr. Jamil Madi of Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, about how the coronavirus case increases have affected his ICU in the Rio Grande Valley.

In a night of primaries, President Trump's personal physician Ronny Jackson secured a nomination to represent a Texas congressional district and Jeff Sessions lost a bid to regain his Senate seat.

The number of coronavirus cases is soaring in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott shut the state back down two weeks ago. NPR's David Greene talks to Pat Hallisey, the mayor of League City.

Texas recorded 10,028 new cases, surpassing its previous single-day increase as statewide hospitalizations also set new records.

Florida and Texas reported their biggest daily rise in new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past few days as deaths in the U.S. continue to rise.

With COVID-19 cases setting records, Gov. Greg Abbott is requiring most Texans to wear face coverings in public. The order takes effect Friday and applies to counties with 20 or more cases.

Roberta Schwartz, chief innovation officer at Houston Methodist Hospital, describes how the hospital is dealing with the current influx of COVID-19 cases.

Gov. Greg Abbott imposes the state's first significant rollback on reopening yet in an executive order issued Friday morning. The day before, Texas reported a record 5,996 new coronavirus cases.