Officials fear Dolly could break Rio Grande levees

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN – 1 hour ago

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Coastal officials worried Tuesday that Tropical Storm Dolly may bring so much rain that flooding could break through the levees holding back the Rio Grande.

Officials urged residents to move away from the 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.

The first bands of rain began to pass over South Padre Island 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.

Hurricane warnings were in effect from Brownsville north to Corpus Christi, and in Mexico, from Rio San Fernando north to the U.S. border. Tropical storm warnings were issued for surrounding areas, and the governor has declared 14 counties disasters, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers needed to the areas in the storm's path.


Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVWjsPEiqe1tEu2mhBIRaxxGi8owD9234DL86

[truthisfreedom]

1. I wonder how well flood insurance is selling there?

[elehhhhna]

3. not at all right this minute, Then ins. co's can't even bind a new homeowners

policy when a hurricane's coming, and flood ins., when you buy it, doesn't kick in for 30 days.

[Demeter]

2. Any Chance of a Certain Ranch Outside Crawford Washing Away?

Sauce for the gander....

[uppityperson]

4. Probably not. Don't think it's near a river and too far inland.

[Ian David]

8. I asked during Rita, and it didn't sound likely. n/t

[DRoseDARs]

5. How much u wanna bet the WH'll suddenly give a shit 'bout hurricanes now that Tay-has is threatened?

Just sayin'... :shrug:

[kentauros]

14. It's South Texas.

They still won't care. If Poppy Bush or Crawford were threatened, sure, they might do something. But likely mostly just to get their people out of the way and nothing for the rest of us in Texas.

[KamaAina]

6. Oh dear. The name "valley" is somewhat of a misnomer.

The area is actually more of a delta or (gulp) floodplain. Ordinarily this makes it easy to irrigate nearby croplands, including most of our red grapefruit. But with the forecast track indeed heading right upriver...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT04/refresh/AL0408W_sm2+gif/212911W_sm.gif

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Xipe Totec]

16. I was there for Beulah in '67

It's not going to be pretty.

[Ian David]

7. Bush and McCain said the levee infrastructure was "pork" and refused to fund it. Oh, well. n/t

[superconnected]

9. And FEMA hasn't changed a bit. At least this time they won't expect help.

Silly nation, thinking our tax dollars belong to us.

[Doctor_J]

10. What a dilemna for the Cons. On one hand this would destroy a red state

OTOH it could cause chaos on the Rio Grande which could lead to hordes of "aliens" to flood into our decreasingly white country. What's a Hannitarian to do?

[Frisbee]

11. Good thing FEMA has finally got their shit together..

Oh wait, they are leaving that for the NEXT president. Guess we'll have to put that hurricane on hold for a few months. :sarcasm:

[IDemo]

12. "One more time..."

[Gman]

13. It won't be a Katrina situation if a levee or two breaks

as most of the levees are in rural areas.

[PassingFair]

15. Who could have foreseen that man would create such a distructive force?