July 23, 2008

Hurricane Dolly Storms the Texas-Mexico Coast

Residents seek shelter from Dolly's torrential rain and high winds

By Jessie Maxwell

Hurricane season is taking the Atlantic coast by storm. Dolly is the fourth storm to develop this season, and has grown into the second full-blown hurricane. Hurricane season in the Atlantic lasts from June 1st to November 30th.

MATT SLOCUM—AP A resident of Brownsville, Texas, walks his dog on Wednesday morning, despite the impending storm.

On Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Dolly to a Category 2 storm, with winds at its center whipping up to 100 miles per hour. Forecasters said the storm could drop as much as 15 inches of rain on parts of south Texas and northern Mexico. School buses carried residents of South Padre Island and Port Isabel, both in Texas, to inland shelters.

A Storm's Path

A hurricane is a system of intense thunderstorms that forms over the ocean and spins counter-clockwise. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service classify hurricanes according to their strength and destructive capabilities. They use a 1-5 rating system called the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Dolly is a Category 2 hurricane. Katrina, the hurricane that devastated New Orleans, Louisiana as well as parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida in 2005 was a Category 5.

DAVID J. PHILLIP–AP Cars jam the road on Tuesday, July 22, as people evacuate South Padre Island before hurricane Dolly hits.

Texas residents are worried that Dolly's torrential rainfall will be too much extra water for the levees in the Rio Grande valley. The valley is a heavily populated area with big embankments, or levees, that keep the river from flooding peoples' homes.

Officials have urged residents to leave the valley. "We believe that [the levees] will be breached if [Hurricane Dolly] continues on the same track," says Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos. "The levees are not going to hold that much water."

Planning Ahead

Texas governor Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas. This puts into place plans to send emergency workers and clean-up equipment to the hardest hit areas. The Texas government also set up centers where residents can get sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.

Northern Mexico also prepared for the worst. The Mexican government set up a storm shelter in Matamoros, Mexico, for evacuees. Soldiers worked to bring families already trapped by storm surges at the mouth of the Rio Grande river to safety.

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