South Texans filter through Dolly's mess

By Elizabeth White | The Associated Press

5:17 AM EDT, July 25, 2008

HARLINGEN, Texas - South Texas was getting back on its feet Friday as residents filter through the soggy mess left by Hurricane Dolly despite thousands still being without power.

The National Weather Service said the remnants of Dolly, which washed ashore as a Category 2 hurricane, could still add a few inches of rain to some areas. Downed power lines remained the greatest danger. One person in Matamoros, Mexico, died from electrocution after walking past a power line on the ground.

Fallen billboards and business signs still littered the streets, but residents were out and about after hunkering down for most of Wednesday. As the sun peeked through dark clouds, people began cleaning up and expressed relief that the storm didn't take many lives.

``We're all OK,'' said Hilario Cruz as he chopped up a felled tree that just missed his pickup truck in Harlingen. ``We covered the windows. The water was up to our knees yesterday.''

There will be substantial cleanup: President Bush declared 15 counties in south Texas a disaster area to release federal funding to them, and insurance estimators put the losses at $750 million.

By Thursday afternoon, forecasters downgraded Dolly to a tropical depression. The storm, which brought 100 mph winds, was expected to break up by Friday. It left behind more than a foot of rain in some areas and broke all-time July rainfall records in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

But with Dolly long gone, 159,000 people in the region were still without power at 10 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to Gov. Rick Perry's office. The figure was down from 228,000 earlier in the day.

Steve McCraw, the state's homeland security director, said about 1,500 workers were on hand to help restore power and seven stations were distributing water, ice, food and hygiene kits.

An aerial view of the Rio Grande Valley showed fields forming a checkerboard pattern, some inundated with water, others spared. Traffic was moving again in most places, but some residential areas were surrounded by floodwaters and debris was strewn across lawns.

Perry, who flew over the area Thursday with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, cautioned residents not to rest easy just yet.

``It appears that we have handled it as well as it can be handled. But it is far from over,'' Perry said, noting possible flooding over the next five days from runoff as the storm moves northward.

Sen. Cornyn said Dolly should remind the federal government that it needs to fund levee improvements along the Rio Grande.

``We're lucky Mother Nature didn't deal us a harsher blow,'' Cornyn said.

After crashing ashore on South Padre Island midday Wednesday, Dolly meandered north, leaving towns on the northern tip of the Rio Grande Valley with a surprise. Officials had feared the Rio Grande levees would breach, but the storm veered from its predicted path and they held strong.

``We're glad it didn't make a direct hit but it just refocuses on the issues we have,'' said Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos. ``The levees are suspect. Nothing's changed in my opinion.''

While the area near the border that expected the bulk of the storm was counting its blessings, residents a little farther north were wondering what hit them.

In the La Quinta section of San Benito, flooding is routine as rain normally drives torrents of water off a nearby expressway and pool around raised railroad beds. But they said Thursday they'd never seen anything like this.

One subsidized housing project will likely have to be torn down, having just barely survived three or four other floods, said Arnold Padilla, the city's housing director.

``If it was salvageable at all, it would be three or four months before it was livable,'' Padilla said.

The raised railroad tracks that define the neighborhood became the vantage point, boat launch and the only dry ground around.