Eye of Hurricane Dolly Reaches Land

This afternoon, Hurricane Dolly reached land on South Padre Island, Texas according to the National Hurricane Center. Tornados have been spotted on land and a tornado watch is in effect for most of Southern Texas.


The hurricane center said Dolly is expected to produce from 8 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 20 inches in some isolated spots, and widespread flooding is likely in the area. It predicted coastal storm surges of 6 to 8 feet above normal tides.

People in the path of the storm stacked sandbags around their homes, nailed plywood over windows and prepared generators to keep power going in the event of a blackout. In addition the average wait for a bag of sand in Brownsville Texas was two hours on Tuesday.


More than two dozen state agencies and organizations such as the Red Cross are on standby to help with evacuations and other needs.

The National Guard has set up staging areas in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, officials said. As many as 1,200 National Guardsmen have been called to help, and 700 are already deployed to targeted areas.

An incident management team has been pre-positioned in south Texas, including six UH-60 helicopters, to provide support to first responders.