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Texas and Mexico brace for storm Hurricane Dolly lashes Gulf Coast
(1 day later)
Tropical Storm Dolly has grown into a Category One hurricane as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico towards the US-Mexican border, US forecasters say. Hurricane Dolly has hit the Mexico-Texas coast, lashing the region with winds of up to 100mph (161km/h).
With winds up to 75mph (120km/h) Dolly is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, they say. Dolly dumped about 12in (30cm) of rain over Texas before weakening from a category two to a category one storm, says the US national weather service.
"Preparation to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami says. Towns and cities in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas were put on alert in case the rain causes flooding.
It is the second of the 2008 hurricane season, the NHC says. Power cuts have left more than 12,000 customers without electricity, according to a Texas power company.
At 2100 GMT on Tuesday the centre of Dolly was located about 165 miles (265km) south-east of Brownsville in Texas. Earlier, residents were urged to move away from levees in case they were breached.
A hurricane warning remains in effect from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and along Mexico's north-east coast from Rio San Fernando north to the US border. "Preparation to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami warned.
Dolly drenched popular tourist resorts on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula at the weekend but caused no damage. Storm surge
The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has put 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews on alert. The leading edge of the storm reached Texas's South Padre Island before dawn, damaging the roof of an apartment building.
The NHC has forecast that this year's hurricane season, which runs until November, could be especially active with up to nine hurricanes and 12 tropical storms. The causeway linking the island to the mainland had been closed earlier. class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7522283.stm">In pictures: Dolly hits Gulf Coast
Forecasters have predicted Dolly would bring a coastal storm surge of up to 6ft (1.8m) above normal.
Based on Dolly's projected path, the US Census Bureau said that about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects.
Cari Lambrecht, a spokesman for Hidalgo County, Texas, said that shelters able to hold about 400 people have been opened.
She said they were encouraging people in low-lying areas to use the shelters.
"It's so much easier for them to go now instead of us having to pull them out later," she said.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has called up 1,200 National Guard members to help in any emergency caused by the hurricane.
In Mexico, Governor Eugenio Hernandez of the state of Tamaulipas, said officials planned to evacuate 23,000 people to government shelters in Matamoros, Soto La Marina and San Fernando.
In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs, but said it did not expect production to be affected.
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