
Re: Tropical Deja Vu in the Caribbean, Western Gulf?
More rain coming as Rio Grande laps at bridges
By LYNN BREZOSKY SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
BROWNSVILLE —
Tropical storm warnings for the Gulf Coast were called off today but severe flooding remained likely as a loose mass of wind and rain started moving into already soaked areas of South Texas and Northern Mexico.
National Weather Service forecaster Jim Campbell said
the system's landfall meant it never had time to strengthen to what would be the Atlantic hurricane season's second named storm.
"There won't be a Bonnie today," Campbell said.
The forecast offered little comfort to residents along
the overflowing Rio Grande from Laredo to Brownsville. The river was at some of its highest levels in decades thanks to last week's Hurricane Alex.
In Laredo, water didn't have far to rise before i
t began lapping at the undersides of international bridges, two of which were ordered closed Wednesday. As of 11 a.m. today, the water depth was in a "major" flood stage of 38 feet - and still had not reached expected crests.
Texas National Guard members and rescue swimmers were on hand to assist, but city spokeswoman Xochitl Mora said reverse 911 calls and advisories for low-lying areas so far had kept people safe. Just one neighborhood on the city's southwest side had been ordered to evacuate, perhaps because there had been no new rains in the region since Tuesday, she said.
"We do expect today to be a bit of a longer day in the sense that we see the rain coming in from the Gulf," Mora said. "It's already expected to bring some heavy rain."
Hydrologists predicted four to eight inches of rain, with 10 inches possible in some areas, prompting flash flood watches through Friday night for all of deep South Texas.
Downriver from Laredo, the International Boundary and Water Commission continued releasing Falcon Lake water into the creeks and floodways of the Rio Grande Valley.
Commission spokeswoman Sally Spener said
the last time Falcon Dam spilled floodwaters was in 1992. The reservoir there was
still receiving overspill from the Amistad Dam upriver, which has been dumping water at the rate of 35,000 cubic feet per second since Tuesday, the dam's largest release since 1974.Hidalgo County spokeswoman Cari Lambrecht said no decision had been made yet to open a countywide emergency operation center, but staff were on guard for a worst case scenario involving the river.
"Our emergency personnel haven't stopped since Alex," she said.