4:30 A.M. UPDATE: Dozens rescued, storm weakens

 McALLEN - Hurricane Dolly dumped a deluge of rain and pounded the Rio Grande Valley before weakening to a tropical storm late Wednesday night.

No deaths have been reported with the storm which left thousands without power, ripped roofs off buildings and marooned motorist on the highways. About 60 families stranded by Dolly's heavy rains were rescued in Cameron County early Thursday morning.

Heavy rains and gusty winds continue to pummel the Valley, but blue skies are expected to replace the storm within 24 hours.

A high pressure ridge is expected to move south in the next few days, clearing skies for emergency responders who expect to work through the week to clean up damage from the hurricane, said Jason Straub, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"Conditions are going to improve pretty quickly," he said.

So far, despite reports of widespread flooding, official's biggest fear that the area's inept levee system would fail, has not materialized.

"(Flooding is) significant in San Benito - they're not in good shape. Los Fresnos is without power," said Johnny Cavazos, Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator. "We've got a lot of power lines down. It doesn't look pretty out there."

As of 4 a.m., Dolly's sustained winds weakened to 60 mph, down from 100 mph when they storm made landfall near South Padre Island this afternoon.

Governor Rick Perry is expected to tour the damage from Dolly Thursday with local emergency management officials.

Perry asked President Bush to issue a major disaster declaration for 15 south Texas counties Wednesday as the storm moved ashore bringing torrential rains.

For most of the day, Hurricane Dolly pounded Cameron County after moving ashore Wednesday afternoon near South Padre Island. With wind gust close to 100 mph, Dolly bent trees, sheered roofs and spurned widespread flash flooding.

Cavzos and Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos surveyed some of the damage early Wednesday morning. San Benito, Los Fresnos and outskirts of Brownsville were the hardest hit, they said.

But flood waters prevented them from touring more of the damaged areas. They were unable to verify reports of flooding in Harlingen.

Cavzos said that many area residents ignored warnings earlier this week about the potential for flooding and decided to wait out the storm at home. It's a situation that he said might have been prevented.

"I think there was some complacency ... We've been saying for the last 48 hours that a lot of low-lying areas will be underwater," he said. "We've got numerous calls of people who are stranded."

Few injuries have been reported. A 17-year-old on South Padre Island was seriously injured when he was blown from a seventh-floor balcony at the Lighthouse Harbor condominium. He survived the fall and earlier Wednesday was being treated at a local fire station.

Widespread flash floods have washed roads across nearly every city in the county. Downed power lines confound emergency responders. In McAllen an American Electric Power transformer caught fire near the McAllen Convention Center.

In Cameron County, 50 mph winds and heavy rains blew through Brownsville and San Benito Wednesday afternoon knocking out power to many residents. At least 2,300 people had sought refuge at county's shelters as of Wednesday morning, County Judge Carlos Cascos said.

Dolly's initial projected path had it sweeping up the Rio Grande before heading south toward the Mexican mountain city of Monterrey. Officials feared this path would produce a 100 year flood, spilling the waters of the river into cities on both sides of the border.

But the fickle storm confounded forecasters, changing paths throughout the day before ultimately moving north before heading west. A spokeswoman for Hidalgo County said the storm's gracious path change saved the Valley from the heaviest flooding.

"The trajectory of the storm helped us," Hidalgo County spokeswoman Cari Lambrecht said.

The International Boundary and Water Commission, however, continued Thursday morning to closely monitor water levels in the Rio Grande against the height of the levees. Portions of those levees have been declared too low to contain the river in the event of a major storm.

"We could have some problems," said IBWC spokeswoman Sally Spener.

While more than 2,000 people wait out the storm at shelters across Hidalgo County, most people chose to brave the storm at home.

Jesse Quistiano watched the storm from his front porch in colonia La Paloma south of Edcouch, holding his 17-month old daughter. He lost power earlier in the day and braved the rain because his daughter was unafraid and curious.

"We're probably safer here," Quistiano said. "If we go out on the road, God knows what we'll run into."

South Padre Island began experiencing hurricane force winds late this morning, and much of the town has lost power. Debris from blown over fences and discarded roofing material littered the streets. Several buildings - including The Palmetto Inn and the Bahia Mar resort - appeared to have lost portions of their roofs.

The Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge reopened at 8:30 p.m. but an 8 p.m. curfew remains in effect.

Flood waters washed a stretch of Expressway 83 in La Feria, stranding at least two cars in the water. One man was taken to the hospital. The extent of his injuries is unknown.

Damage in Harlingen was also reported, including downed power lines and mobile signs scattered across the city. In Rio Hondo, northeast of Harlingen, power lines and trees were reported down.

Power is out for almost 150,000 customers across the entire Valley, 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.

In Hidalgo County, early reports suggest the worst of the flooding may be in the Edcouch-Elsa delta area. But those reports have not been verified as county officials continue to remain indoors until the brunt of the storm passes the Valley later this morning.

Earlier in the day, Sonja Zuniga, 50, hunkered down with her family at Edcouch-Elsa's Garcia Elementary. She cracked jokes about her conditions.

"I'm not using the bathroom until I get home," she said.

But local and state officials have had little luck so far pressuring the Red Cross to begin manning storm shelters immediately.

The humanitarian group announced in June 2007 it would no longer operate shelters here, in light of the deteriorated state of levees along the Rio Grande.

"It's a liability issue, which the Red Cross does not want to venture into," a Red Cross spokesman said.
South of the border, Mexican officials struggled to evacuate the most flood prone areas of Reynosa and Matamoros.

On Tuesday, the Tamaulipas governor ordered evacuations of more than 23,000 people in Matamoros, San Fernando and Soto La Marina. But Reynosa city officials had only managed to bring 300 people in for relief as of 10 a.m. this morning.