Hurricane Dolly

News from MSN.com: BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph and dumping heavy rain that flooded some low-lying areas, but sparing levees along the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley.

Now for my commentary. For those unaware of where Brownsville is, it is located on the southern most tip of Texas, on the border of Mexico and near the Gulf of Mexico. Port Isabel is about 20 miles north of Brownsville and on the Gulf of Mexico, and South Padre Island is connected to the mainland (Port Isabel) via a 3 mile causeway bridge.



Picture of the causeway that links South Padre Island to Port Isabel. The island had most of the residents evacuate in preparation for Hurricane Dolly.



I lived in Brownsville for about a year and half from in 2003 and 2004. While there, we went through Tropical Storm Emily and it was my first taste of severe weather in the United States. I can't imagine going through that with the Category 2 storm that Dolly became. I have been in contact with some friends down there and although everybody seems ok, they are still waiting for the storm to fully pass so they can see what the actual damage is.

A few years before I moved to Brownsville, there was severe flooding in the center that I worked. When I first moved there, you could still see the water lines that were about three feet high around the center, even though they had attempted to paint over it. Good luck everybody down there and take care.