Tropical Storm — Hidalgo, Texas

2008-07-23 to 2008-07-24 · Hidalgo, Texas

Event narrative

Dolly's slow progression westward across south central Willacy County during the afternoon and evening of the 23rd delayed the onset of sustained tropical storm force winds into Hidalgo County, but by mid afternoon on the 23rd, the winds indeed arrived, and would continue well into the evening and overnight, at first in broad rain bands within a large circulation around the enlarged center, and later in rain bands well to the east and southeast of the collapsing core.

Sustained winds in the western and southern eyewall increased to 35 to near 50 mph, with gusts nearing hurricane force, generally between 4 PM and 8 PM, especially across the more populated southern half of the county. These sustained winds would continue toward midnight, and likely a bit after midnight across the western third of the county as additional squalls moved through. The persistence of the heavy rains eventually produced widespread inland flooding.

Wind damage reports were typical of tropical storm force winds, including the likelihood of thousands of tree limbs blown down, numerous power lines and a number of power poles down, and minor structural damage to poorly constructed buildings, and mobile trailer type homes. The heaviest damage was concentrated generally along and east of Federal Highway 281, where near hurricane force gusts occurred.

Power outages were widespread, and it was likely that at least 100,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storm during the late afternoon and evening of the 23rd. As with other hard hit areas in Cameron and Willacy Counties, power was not recovered in full for days, and in some cases more than a week, after the storm had moved by.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Dolly, the first storm since Bret (1999) to make landfall along the Deep South Texas barrier islands, left a trail of widespread minor to moderate structural and natural damage across much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas on July 23rd, and dumped copious rainfall across the area, causing numerous instances of flooding primarily of low lying and poor drainage locations, as well as filling local resacas and arroyos, and causing notable rises on larger area creeks and rivers. Dolly intensified rapidly to an estimated minimum pressure of 962 mb while drifting northward just east of South Padre Island, and its center made landfall between 1 and 2 PM on July 23rd along the unpopulated shoreline of Cameron and Willacy County. Dolly then eased westward across southern Willacy County through the afternoon, continued into extreme northern Hidalgo County as a tropical storm during the evening, then turned northwest and accelerated through Jim Hogg County during the early morning hours of the 24th, passing into Webb County shortly after sunrise.

The strong winds and heavy rains contributed to widespread power outages in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where at least 236,000 customers lost power, but possibly upwards of 250,000 - primarily across the more populated regions of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy County. Agricultural experts deemed a substantial loss of cotton and sorghum due to the strong winds and torrential rain. As of the end of Calendar Year 2008, estimated insured property damage (wind) based on the standard doubling of insurance estimates from the Property Claims Service of the Insurance Services Office was $1.05 billion. Reported insured flood damage from FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program is $171 thousand; however, it is estimated that the vast majority of flood damage occurred to uninsured properties, and a rough estimate of total flood damage, which was more widespread, and includes agricultural losses, will likely push total flood-related damages to between $100 and $300 million.

It is conceivable that total damage from all Hurricane Dolly related hazards may have exceeded $1.5 billion.

More than 6,000 Lower Rio Grande Valley residents were housed in temporary shelters from Deep South Texas to San Antonio at the peak of the storm; 13,000 residents across the Lower Rio Grande Valley visited FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers after the storm. As of October 3rd, FEMA had distributed $44 million in relief; $30 million to individual households, nearly $10 million to small businesses through the Small Business Administration, and just under $5 million to local governments for infrastructure repair.

Please note that best estimates will be included on a county by county basis as data is received through the rest of the year.

Storm total rainfall from the evening of July 22nd through the early afternoon of July 24th generally ranged from 4 to 10 inches in Kenedy, Brooks, Starr, Jim Hogg, and Zapata Counties, and 6 to 14 inches in Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron Counties, with locally more than 18 inches possible in the persistent southern eyewall in northern Cameron and southern Willacy Counties. Widespread freshwater flooding occurred in these areas as Dolly moved through, and low lying, poor drainage, or areas where drainage systems failed were flooded for days, and in some cases weeks, to come.

The late intensification of Dolly just prior to landfall, combined with a brief northward jog before turning to the west along the Cameron/Willacy County line, limited Gulf storm surge effects across the Town of South Padre Island through mid morning on the 23rd. However, hurricane force west winds whipped an estimated 3 to 4 foot water rise from Laguna Madre across the Town, with water briefly stretching across the Island at the height of the event. The town of Port Mansfield, immediately north of the center, estimated a 4 foot storm surge and 5 foot storm tide.

Interestingly, tides to the north of Dolly's center initially fell to below predicted values on increasing northerly winds, before rising during the late afternoon and evening as the cyclone moved inland, and strong southerly flow piled a storm tide of up to 6 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) along the uninhabited Kenedy County shoreline.

There was a single confirmed tornado in Cameron County during the late evening of July 22nd, associated with one of the first outer rain bands. No damage was reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 129365. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.