Hurricane could threaten Rio Grande levees

McALLEN, Texas — Dolly spun into a hurricane Tuesday, heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border and the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley, where officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks.

Dolly was upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday afternoon with sustained winds near 75 mph, and some strengthening of the Category 1 storm is forecast before landfall today. At 2 p.m. PDT, the storm’s center was about 165 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 10 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.

In Mexico, Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said officials are planning to evacuate 23,000 people to government shelters in Matamoros, Soto La Marina and San Fernando.

Texas officials urged residents to move away from the Rio Grande levees; 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.

The first bands of rain began to pass over South Padre Island and Reynosa, Mexico, on Tuesday afternoon and the surf continued to get rougher. Forecasters predicted Dolly would dump 15 to 20 inches of rain and bring coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal high tide levels.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for areas adjacent to the hurricane zone, and Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 South Texas counties disasters, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers to areas in the storm’s path.

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.