Hurricane Dolly turns west after landfall, blasts Harlingen from the north
HARLINGEN -- Hurricane Dolly, which grew to a Category 2 storm packing 100 mile per hour winds, made landfall near the mouth of the Arroyo Colorado and the Cameron-Willacy county line earlier today. The storm then headed west, bringing a backhanded surprise to the Harlingen area and pounding that city for hours during the afternoon as the center and its fierce eyewall winds made their closest approach.
Dolly has now weakened to Category 1. The storm's center is now almost due north of Harlingen, but appears on satellite imagery to be starting to pull away.
Dolly has produced wind damage to structures, signs and power lines all over Cameron County from South Padre Island to Brownsville, Rio Hondo and Harlingen. Reports of roofs blown off or punctured, sheds and portable signs destroyed and trees and downed lines blocking roads are coming in from all over.
The first reported casualty of the storm is a 17-year-old on South Padre Island who fell or was blown off a seventh-floor balcony at the Lighthouse Harbor condominium. He survived the fall and is being treated at the SPI fire station pending transportation to a hospital. The teen has compound fractures of his leg and hip, and also a head injury, Island officials said. But he was reported to be in stable condition.
On radar, Dolly was something of an anomaly, with the wettest side of the storm currently in the southwest quadrant and dumping rain from Willacy County south to Brownsville. Usually the northeast quadrant is the wettest quadrant with the strongest winds.
But a National Weather Service meterologist said the storm was not that unusual, and the phenomenon was caused by drier air being pulled in from the north, thereby causing more intense rains in the southern half of the system.
The hurricane first brushed South Padre Island and Brownsville on its way north toward landfall near the Cameron-Willacy County line. Harlingen began getting waves of rain and steady winds of 25-35 miles per hour around 7 a.m., but the strongest gusts starting blowing in around 2 p.m., with some approaching 80 miles per hour. The weather station at the Star has recorded 8 inches of rain so far today, but that figure may be inaccurate due to much of the rain being blown horizontally by the hurricane force winds.
Part of the facade of Harlingen's Sun Valley Mall on 13th Street was blown away, with debris scattered across the parking lot. Nearby on Austin Street, trees and limbs reportedly littered the street. Trees also were down on 76 Drive by the Harlingen Public Library with palm fronds covering the front of the building.
Other reports of damage from Valley Morning Star reporters in the field include part of the roof on the warehouse at the Harlingen city landfill on FM 106; roofs blown off apartments and a restaurant along with a sign at the Bahia Mar resort on South Padre Island; trees blown down all over San Benito, including one crushing a house; light standards and power lines down in Harlingen; power lines down in Rio Hondo, including one blocking FM 345; a tree blocking North Nelson Road near Rio Hondo; a shed destroyed near the former Air Museum in Rio Hondo; and mobile signs destroyed all over Harlingen.
Damage has occurred at the Star's plant during the past hour, with the wind ripping sheet metal off loading dock roofs and destroying a wind turbine on the roof.
Power is out for at least 60,000 customers all over Cameron and Willacy counties, including Port Isabel, South Padre Island and much of Brownsville and Harlingen. AEP reportedly is bringing crews in from all over Texas to start work as soon as the storm passes and conditions permit.
More information will be posted to valleystar.com as it becomes available.
You can view conditions in Harlingen on the Valley Morning Star's weather station by clicking on http://www.valleystarnews.com/weather/
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