Dolly's rains continue to inundate Texas and Mexico

[phantom power]

Tropical Storm Dolly continues plowing west over South Texas, dumping huge quantities of rain. Radar-estimated rainfall amounts as high as 25 inches (Figure 1) have already been reported, and Dolly will probably rank as one of the the ten rainiest tropical cyclones to affect Texas. At its peak, Dolly delivered five inches of rain per hour to the coast at landfall. AIR Worldwide insurance company estimates that the total insured damage from Dolly will run $300 million - $1.2 billion, mostly due to flooding and wind damage (total damage is typically estimated as double the insured damage, and would thus be $600 million - $2.4 billion). One bright spot to Dolly's rampage--the storm's rains brought an end to the moderate to severe drought gripping extreme South Texas, and will help with drought conditions along coastal Texas northwards to Corpus Christi.

Dolly's total damage is difficult to estimate at this point, because much of it has yet to occur. Dolly is dumping prodigious rains, thanks to its very slow forward speed of about 7 mph. The rains from Dolly may rival those of Hurricane Beulah of 1967. Beulah, a huge and powerful Category 3 hurricane, dumped up to 27 inches of rain inland, triggering major flooding throughout South Texas and Northeast Mexico. Beulah did over $1 billion in damage to Texas, due in part to failure of levees on the Rio Grande River. Considerable damaging flooding will affect South Texas over the next few days, as Dolly's rains continue to pound the state. However, the levees on the Rio Grande River are expected to hold.

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