Hurricane Dolly hits Mexico and Texas coast (Roundup)

Washington - Hurricane Dolly ripped into the Mexico-Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico at about 1800 GMT Wednesday on South Padre Island, Texas as a Catagory 2 hurricane. Thousands of people have fled their homes both in Mexico and the US in search of shelter as the second hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season has been to thrashing coastal communities with heavy rain and high winds. Some 50 centimetres of rain are still expected in some areas. South Padre Island had already received about 25 centimetres of rain adding to the threat of damage from flooding. Overflowing rivers had already damaged property. The Dolly storm rating had been raised to a Category 2 event earlier Wednesday with winds over 160 kilometres, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Texas has declared the impact zone a disaster area and meteorologists expect seas to surge as people were seeking cover. A hurricane warning stretches for about 300 miles along the US and Mexican coasts, from Corpus Christi, Texas, southward to Rio San Fernando, Mexico. Texas mobilized 1,200 National Guard members after a hurricane watch was declared for part of the coast south of Corpus Christi. Many people barricaded their homes as a precaution against rising water levels, while others left for safer areas. Radio and television issued hourly situation reports and gave details of emergency plans. Meteorologists fear that low-lying coastal areas could be flooded and warned that inland regions might also be affected in the coming days. Mexico is also being pummelled by Tropical Storm Genevieve, which is moving in a westerly direction along the Mexican coast bringing heavy rainfall in the southern states of Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima. The hurricane season in the Atlantic officially lasts from June 1 to November 30, and experts were expecting 15-20 storms over this period.