State leaders call for levee funding in Dolly's wake

McALLEN - State leaders said Thursday that the Valley had "dodged a bullet" with Hurricane Dolly and urged the federal government to fund levee repairs before a more severe storm swept the area.

Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn toured storm-ravaged areas of Cameron and Hidalgo counties hours after Dolly blew through the Rio Grande Valley.

But despite widespread flooding in some areas, concern that the Valley's levee system could fail seemed to have been unfounded, Perry said.

"We've seen how this instance can be mishandled - when state and local officials don't step up," he said. "It helps to have a plan, execute a plan and stick to a plan. That's what happened here."

Still, Cornyn emphasized the next hurricane to hit the region could be worse.

"The federal government has not lived up to its obligation to fund and repair the federal levee system," the senator said. "We may not be so lucky next time."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency threatened to decertify much of the region's levees and declare the area a flood plain last summer. Yet, Congress has yet to appropriate funding to complete levee repairs.

In 2006, Hidalgo County voters passed a $100 million bond issue to pay for repairs and drainage upgrades up front, hoping to get reimbursed later on.

The Department of Homeland Security - of which FEMA is a part - has since thrown their support behind the plan as levee repair has been incorporated into plans to build a border fence in the county.

But rain levels during Dolly never grew strong enough to pose a serious threat to the levees capacity, said Sally Spener, a spokeswoman U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission.

Still, emergency management officials expressed some concern that heavy rains up river from the hurricane's remnants could pose a flooding risk as they swept toward the Gulf.

"Although the sun is starting to shine and it appears troubles are over, you don't have the think back but to Katrina," Cornyn said. "It was when the skies started turning blue, that's when the flooding."