Complete Hurricane Dolly Coverage
Dolly knocks out power to nearly 53,000 South Texas Residents
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Dolly has left nearly 53,000 residents in three South Texas counties without power.
Gov. Rick Perry has requested a federal disaster declaration for counties being affected by the hurricane.
Dolly came ashore on South Padre Island as a Category 2 storm Wednesday morning with winds of 100 mph. About two hours later, Dolly's winds slowed to 95 mph, and the storm was downgraded to a Category 1.
Dolly knocked out power to more than 52,600 residents in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties. Power also was out on South Padre Island.
Perry said National Guard troops were conducting search and rescue efforts in border colonias, low-lying poor communities without municipal services like sewer and water. Along with the troops, six helicopters, 50 vehicles and four dozen boats had been deployed.
Online Extra:
Dolly has made landfall and you can follow the coverage from South Texas through newspapers like the Brownsville Herald, The Valley Morning Star, and The Monitor .
KFDM will update you by listing links to stories from the storms area as it approaches the coastline and makes landfall.
From the Brownsville Herald:
Emergency Crews Work Around The Clock - By Laura Tillman - The Brownsville Public Library was transformed into the city's emergency operations center on Tuesday for Hurricane Dolly's imminent arrival. (read more)
Safe Haven - By Aaron Nelson - The owner of Reyes Marine and president of the Brownsville-Port Isabel Shrimp Producers Association were tying down his boats and offloading the first catch of the season as storm clouds crowded blue skies. (read more)
County to Release Nonviolent Prisoners as Dolly Looms - By Emma Perez-Trevino - As many as approximately 75 nonviolent and misdemeanor offenders will be released, Sheriff Omar Lucio said. (read more)
From The Monitor:
Nearly 12,000 Without Power in Cameron County - Nearly 12,000 Cameron County residents are without power after a transmission line serving South Padre Island and Los Fresnos went down, according to American Electric Power (AEP). (read more)
Read The Storm Stories Blog on themonitor.com
Drainage Official Expects Rainfall Will Exceed Capacity - By James Osborne - If rainfall from Hurricane Dolly is as heavy as feared, the region's drainage system will not be able to cope. (read more)
Flights Cancelling As Dolly Nears - By James Osborne - American Airlines and Continental Airlines have cancelled most flights ahead of Hurricane Dolly. (read more)
Volunteers Needed For Hidalgo County Disaster Shelters - By Jared Taylor - Weather forecasters expect the staggering storm to dump as much as 15 inches of rain on the area through Wednesday night. (read more)
From The Valley Morning Star
Power Outages in Harlingen, La Feria - HARLINGEN- A power outage has been reported in the area of Harlingen High School. Sporadic outages are reported in La Feria. (read more)
Border Patrol won't stop Motorists in Sarita - By Fernando De Valle - Preparations for Tropical Storm Dolly include plans by the federal government for thousands of illegal immigrants in custody at the detention center. (read more)
3:00PM Update:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Dolly slammed into the South Texas today with punishing rain and winds of 100 miles per hour. The storm blew down signs, damaged an apartment complex and knocked out power to thousands before weakening over land.
Dolly came ashore South Padre Island as a Category 2 storm. Officials in Cameron County say levees, which they feared could fail and cause massive flooding, are holding up fine.
Most of the destruction was on South Padre Island. Part of an apartment complex roof collapsed, and a hotel sign blew off. The causeway linking the island to the mainland was closed.
Authorities say a 17-year-old boy fell from a seventh-story balcony, injuring his head, breaking his hip and fracturing his leg. He was being treated at an island fire station. In Brownsville, palm trees leaned and small debris was strewn across the all-but empty streets. The windows and doors of shops were boarded up with plywood and most businesses were closed.
Thousands were without power in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties, as well as South Padre Island. Dolly is the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since the fast-forming Humberto came ashore in South Texas last September.
1:00PM Update:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Forecasters say Hurricane Dolly has made landfall near South Padre Island in Texas. Dolly is a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds near 100 mph.
The storm has forced thousands of people on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border into shelters. Heavy rains and high winds from the storm have collapsed an apartment roof, blown over signs and cut power to thousands of customers. Landfall is when a storm's center crosses the coastline, but it does not necessarily indicate where the worst weather is.
11:00AM Update:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Dolly today strengthened to a category two storm off South Texas with maximum sustained winds near 100 miles per hour. Forecasters say the storm continued its track toward Brownsville.
- Sections of the roof of a South Padre Island apartment complex collapsed as the edge of Dolly reached shore. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
- The causeway linking tourist-popular South Padre Island to the rest of Texas is closed due to Dolly.
- More than 500 people were at the San Benito High School shelter. KGBT-TV reports Port Isabel residents seeking shelter were being directed to San Benito High School.
- In Mexico, soldiers attempted to rescue people stranded at the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Matamoros spokeswoman Leticia Montalvo says soldiers battled storm-charged waves in an inflatable raft to rescue at least one family trapped in their home. Montalvo says some others farther inland were refusing to go to Mexican government shelters. Officials cut electricity to Matamoros, fearing downed power lines could electrocute people. Trees were already being blown down by the storm's winds. Matamoros is across the Rio Grande from Brownsville.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
10:00 AM Update - Our sister newspaper, The Monitor in McAllen, Texas, is sharing their stories and images from Hurricane Dolly with KFDM, including links to their photo galleries which can be seen by clicking here.
Check back throughout the day to see photos in this gallery as they update their website. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this page to click on links to stories from three news sources in the South Texas area.
KFDM will be updating this story as well as the day goes on.
8:00 AM update - BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Dolly's leading edge arrived on the Gulf Coast early Wednesday, packing heavy rain and powerful winds that could strengthen before the center of the storm hits towns straddling the Texas-Mexico border later in the day.
The Category 1 hurricane was expected to dump up to 15 inches of rain, threatening flooding that could breach levees in the heavily populated Rio Grande valley.
Dolly, upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday, had sustained winds of 85 mph. At 7 a.m. EDT Wednesday, the storm's center was about 55 miles east of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 8 mph.
The National Hurricane Center said Dolly could approach Category 2 strength, meaning wind speeds of at least 96 mph, when it reaches the coastline later Wednesday.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.
Utility company AEP Texas reported power outages to more than 9,200 customers in Cameron County.
The causeway linking South Padre Island to the mainland remained closed early Wednesday.
Dan Quandt, a spokesman for the town's emergency operations, said winds were picking up to around 50 mph and were expected to increase later Wednesday morning. He said there was a steady rain falling, but no reports of flooding. A sign on a hotel blew off, but no one was injured and it did not pose a hazard, he said. National Weather Service radar indicated a tornado 18 miles northeast of the Harlingen Valley Airport on Wednesday morning. A tornado watch was in effect for several counties in the area until 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday.
Cities and counties in the Rio Grande valley were preparing Tuesday night as officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks.
Texas officials urged residents to move away from the Rio Grande levees because if Dolly continues to follow the same path as 1967's Hurricane Beulah, "the levees are not going to hold that much water," said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos. There was intermittent light rain late Tuesday in Brownsville, and Cavazos said he expected outer bands to move over the area overnight. Charles Hoskins, deputy emergency management officer for Cameron County, said there were nearly 2,000 people in six shelters in the county.
In Hidalgo County, a little bit farther inland, six shelters holding about 900 people were open, said Cari Lambrecht, a county spokeswoman. She said people living in low-lying areas were encouraged to come to shelters. "It's so much easier for them to go now instead of us having to pull them out later," she said.
Late Tuesday, the causeway linking the mainland to South Padre Island was closed as winds ramped up, Quandt said. He said no one would be allowed onto or off of the island, with the causeway not likely to open again until Wednesday evening at the earliest. He said winds were not predicted to reach speeds requiring evacuation.
In Mexico, Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said officials planned to evacuate 23,000 people to government shelters in Matamoros, Soto La Marina and San Fernando. People began trickling in Tuesday night to five shelters set up throughout the border city of Matamoros. City officials said three other shelters were ready in case they were needed.
Forecasters predicted Dolly would dump up to 15 inches of rain and bring coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal high tide levels. Forecasters said Dolly's eye should hit the coast around midday Wednesday.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly's projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects. Tropical storm warnings were issued for areas adjacent to the hurricane zone, and Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers to areas in the storm's path.
Mike Castillo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville, said conditions were favorable for tornadoes Wednesday morning, especially in deep south Texas and the adjacent coastal waters.
The storm, combined with levees that have deteriorated in the 41 years since Beulah swept up the Rio Grande, pose a major flooding threat to low-lying counties along the border. Beulah spawned more than 100 tornadoes across Texas and dumped 36 inches of rain in some parts of south Texas, killing 58 people and causing more than $1 billion damage.
"We could have a triple-decker problem here," Cavazos told a meeting of more than 100 county and local officials Tuesday. "We believe that those (levees) will be breached if it continues on the same track. So please stay away from those levees."
Around Brownsville, levees protect the historic downtown as well as preserved buildings that were formerly part of Fort Brown on the University of Texas at Brownsville campus. Outside the city, agricultural land dominates the banks of the Rio Grande, but thousands of people live in low-lying colonias, often poor subdivisions built without water and sewer utilities.
The International Boundary and Water Commission, which operates a series of levees, dams and floodways in the lower Rio Grande Valley, put its personnel on standby alert. If needed, the IBWC will begin patrolling the levees around the clock looking for seepage and erosion, said spokeswoman Sally Spener. The IBWC made significant improvements to the levee system after Beulah and its studies showed that a 100-year flood in Cameron County would not top the levees, Spener said. Levees upstream in Hidalgo County are in the midst of improvements, but the river could spill over sections in a 100-year flood, a flood so big that it has only a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. Much of the damage to New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina was from levee breaks instead of wind.
Lines grew Tuesday at centers giving out sandbags in the Rio Grande Valley. The Navy began flying 104 of its aircraft out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi to bases inland. Other aircraft will be sheltered on base in hangars and no evacuation was planned. Maj. Jose Rivera of the Texas Army National Guard said troops were preparing at armories in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, after Gov. Perry called up 1,200 Guard members to help.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was evacuating its Port Isabel Detention Center, said spokeswoman Nina Pruneda. Fewer than 1,000 people were being sent to other detention centers in Texas.
In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs, but said it didn't expect production to be affected. It also secured wells and shut down production in the Rio Grande Valley, where it primarily deals in natural gas. Mexico's state-run oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, said it had evacuated 66 workers from an oil platform off the coast of the port city of Tampico. Pemex said in a statement that it had readied a team and the resources needed in case of damage to oil installations in the region.
Residents of northern Mexico were taking the impending storm in stride. Blas Garica, a 62-year-old builder in Reynosa, was taping up his windows and putting sandbags in front of his porch to prepare. "I'm not afraid because we flood frequently around here," he said. "If my house floods, we'll just run to the roof."
Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Harlingen, Texas; Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas; Mark Walsh in Matamoros, Mexico; Jaime Zea in Mexico City; Regina L. Burns in Dallas and videographer Rich Matthews on South Padre Island contributed to this report.
By ELIZABETH WHITE - AP Writer
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Dolly Becomes A Category 1 Hurricane
MIAMI (AP) - Forecasters say Dolly has become a hurricane and is heading toward southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.
Dolly was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday afternoon and some strengthening is forecast before landfall Wednesday.
At 5 p.m. the center of the storm was located about 165 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas.
Dolly is moving toward the northwest near 10 mph, and maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
