The worst of Hurricane Dolly's wind and rainfall had dissipated Thursday morning as South Texas residents ventured onto city streets to inspect damage caused by the first major storm of the hurricane season, which began in June and ends in November.
On Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service downgraded the hurricane, which made landfall early Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2, to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.
Upon request from Gov. Rick Perry, President Bush issued a Major Presidential Disaster Declaration Thursday, which released federal aid to 15 Texas counties affected by the hurricane.
South Padre Island remains without power, consumable water and gasoline, but the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge connecting the island to the mainland is open to motorists. Bruce McKee, South Padre Island resident and business owner, said water damage in the city is extensive. He said one of the city's main hotels, the Bahia Mar Resort, sustained severe structural damage.
"It has two big holes in the side like somebody shot it with a bazooka," McKee said. "Basically what this is going to be is a miserable place for about two weeks."
Brownsville residents managed to escape the hurricane mostly unscathed except for temporary flooding and minor damages to landscape.
About 2,000 homes were without power Thursday afternoon, but officials and residents did not discover any large-scale damage to businesses or homes, said Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique, spokesman for the Emergency Operations Center.
"Right now we are rejoicing," Manrrique said.
The center conducts hurricane preparedness exercises year-round, which helped to prepare officials for Dolly, Manrrique said, adding that although the center was well-prepared, it had some team management and communication issues during the storm and needs to improve coordination efforts for future emergency situations.
"You prepare for a game and then game day comes along and you still have some kinks to work out," Manrrique said.
Manrrique said damage assessment teams were working Thursday to determine a cost estimate for the destruction.
Theater and dance senior Alejandra Serrato, a Brownsville native living at home for the summer, said weather and flooding conditions had improved by Thursday afternoon. She said damage is composed mainly of broken tree limbs in streets and broken fences.
Serrato, who has never experienced a hurricane before Dolly, said the wind started to pick up around 7 a.m. Wednesday and the worst of the storm was not over until 8 p.m.
"The wind was horrible," Serrato said. "There was just so much noise it was impossible to sleep for me. I was awake all day."
Resacas, or water reservoirs and irrigation channels, are a common feature of the Brownsville infrastructure, according to many residents. Though the resacas do not receive water from the Rio Grande River, which separates the city and the rest of Texas from Mexico, the levels were lowered ahead of the hurricane to free space for incoming rain water, said Manrrique, adding that the resacas are already draining and returning to pre-storm levels.
Sienna Magallenes, an English sophomore from Brownsville, said the resaca in her backyard rose 2 to 3 feet, putting half of her yard under water. Unlike Serrato, Magallenes' house had electricity throughout Wednesday.
Rescue workers from Austin-Travis County EMS deployed Wednesday and Thursday to help with air and water rescues as well as urban search and rescue operations throughout the Valley. Water rescue teams evacuated and provided medical support to residents and made structural assessments in Harligen, Brownsville and South Padre Island Thursday, according to an Austin-Travis County EMS press release.
Perry and Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn from Texas traveled to Hidalgo and Cameron counties on Thursday to observe damages and speak with local officials concerning the progress of emergency operations. State Attorney General Greg Abbott is scheduled to hold a press conference on South Padre Island today to inform residents about price-gouging from businesses offering repair work.
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