EDINBURG, Texas — South Texans eager to salvage what they can from waterlogged homes struck by Hurricane Dolly have another problem: The floodwaters they’re slogging through are laced with stinging fire ants, snakes and tarantulas.
“You don’t want to wade in this water,” state Health Services Commissioner David Lakey said during a visit to the Rio Grande Valley on Friday. “You don’t want to play in this water. You want to stay out of this water.”
It was timely advice, but residents in many neighborhoods with waist-deep water had little choice as they sifted through the mess left by the Category 2 storm that hit the eastern Texas and Mexico coasts Wednesday. In eastern Hidalgo County, as much as 12 inches of rain fell in six hours, turning neighborhoods into coffee-colored lakes.
Officials estimated it could take six weeks for the low-lying region to completely dry out. Residents were using backhoes to dig their own drainage canals and clear water off their property. But the water simply flowed into the neighbors’ yards. Tempers among longtime neighbors were becoming strained.
Iliana Reyna, 34, was monitoring the floodwater’s rise to the second step of her front porch in Edinburg. Reyna, her husband and three children waded into the water Friday to gather a few belongings and what dry goods they could.
Suddenly, 4-year-old Adolfo, standing on the shoulder of the road in bare feet, screamed and began hopping. The other children scooped up water in their shoes and splashed it on his feet, while his father lifted him and brushed away the attacking ant.
“This is just too much for us,” said neighbor Arnold Silva, whose yard was flooded when another neighbor dumped water into it. It rose throughout the night, carrying runoff from a cow pasture and “worms, spiders and ants.”
Fire ants and tarantulas — hairy spiders sometimes the size of a dinner plate — can deliver stinging, painful bites but are not deadly.
But ants and spiders weren’t the only danger. Illness also lurked in refrigerators, health officials said.
“If it doesn’t look right, doesn’t smell right, don’t eat it,” said Eddie Olivarez, Hidalgo County health administrator. He said inspectors were fanning out to restaurants to make sure they disposed of food properly as well.
Still, officials were relieved it wasn’t worse that no one died in the first hurricane of the season to hit the U.S. mainland.
The clean up will be substantial: President Bush declared 15 counties in south Texas disaster areas to release federal funding to them, and insurance estimators put the losses at $750 million.
The storm brought 100 mph winds and broke all-time July rainfall records in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, dumping a foot of rain in some spots.
After crashing ashore on South Padre Island, Dolly meandered north, leaving towns on the northern tip of the Rio Grande Valley with a surprise. Officials had feared the levees would breach, but the storm veered from its predicted path and they held strong.
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