 "Photo: Bryant Haertlein")
 "Photo: Jerry Lara, The Associated Press")
Levees have not been tested since '60s and '70s, says meteorologist
As Hurricane Dolly made landfall on Texas' southern coast Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Rick Perry assured Gulf Coast and Rio Grande Valley residents Wednesday that the state is working to ensure their health and safety.
The eye of the Category 1 storm was about 60 miles northwest of Brownsville Wednesday evening and is expected to continue moving west-northwest as a tropical storm. According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects.
The state put the operational plan for a catastrophic hurricane event into action Sunday afternoon, which includes deploying groups from the American Red Cross and Health and Human Service Commission. Perry said the government has since taken proactive measures, such as deploying fuel teams to assure adequate gasoline for evacuees.
Although originally classified as a Category 1 hurricane, Dolly, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since last September, crashed into South Padre Island as a Category 2 storm with winds topping 100 mph. The storm was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane shortly after making landfall.
Perry said the state was ready for the Category 2 hurricane since the government always prepares for a storm one category higher than expected.
"We prepare for the worst and pray for the best," Perry said at a press conference Wednesday at the Capitol.
Cameron County, the southern-most county in the state, received 5 to 12 inches of rain as of Wednesday evening. The National Weather Service expected another 3 to 7 inches to fall during the night.
The governor said search and rescue teams are standing by with six helicopters, 50 land vehicles and 50 boats. He said the state is supporting 17 shelters around Texas, where 2,800 people had taken refuge as of Wednesday afternoon.
"We're very proud of what we're doing and the governor set some clear expectations in terms of where we're supposed to be at right now," said Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Office of Homeland Security in the Governor's Office. "But this is not a perfect business, and we can always get better, and after this action we'll see where we're at and where we can improve."
The storm veered away from the levees located along the border, and Brownsville officials were positive the levees would not be breached. The state, however, continued to monitor the levees along the Rio Grande River.
Many of the levees have not been regularly tested since the 1960s and 1970s, said Troy Kimmel, senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and the Environment and chief meteorologist for Clear Channel in Austin.
"Apparently the levees are holding up pretty well," Kimmel said.
Kimmel said he does not expect heavy rainfall for Central Texas, only quickly passing showers.
In response to Dolly's prior classification as a Category 2 storm, Perry said he was asking for a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Southern Texas to receive money from the federal government.
Perry said he spoke early Wednesday with local officials in the hardest hit areas, which included Cameron and Hidalgo counties. The governor said he plans to travel to either of the two counties sometime Thursday or Friday.
"Here in Texas we believe in local control of these emergency situations, so the local officials are charged with leading their communities through emergencies like this," Perry said. "As the system pushes through, our goal is to help people pick up the pieces, clean up the mess, work with the local officials to put their lives back in order."
Patricia Brach, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers have been deployed to San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston. The agency did not have a presence on the coast as of late Wednesday afternoon, but Brach said employees will head south when winds die down.
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