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The Political Asylum
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Vintage Girl
Moderator
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 3434
Location: Essex, England
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 Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: Hurricane Dolly |
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I'm hoping this will have missed Silver. Hopefully she will be in touch soon and let us know.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVWjsPEiqe1tEu2mhBIRaxxGi8owD924CF9G2
| Quote: | HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Residents across south Texas slogged through knee-deep muddy waters, tiptoed around downed power lines and dug through debris Thursday, but were thankful that Hurricane Dolly didn't pack the wallop they had feared.
Downed power lines remained the greatest danger, and South Texas officials urged people to stay home one more day "unless it's life or death." One person in Matamoros, Mexico, died from electrocution after walking past a power line on the ground.
Residents picked up the pieces of their houses and businesses blown apart by the storm. But as dry skies spread over the region, they were struck by relief that the storm didn't take many lives. Even so, there will be substantial cleanup: President Bush declared south Texas a disaster area to release federal funding to 15 counties, and insurance estimators put the losses at $750 million.
Rain and wind from Dolly probably doomed much of the cotton crop in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. About 92,000 acres of cotton in the region was awaiting harvest but driving rains and high winds knocked bolls to the ground, making them unsalvageable, Texas Agri Life Extension agent Rod Santa Ana said. Sorghum acres damaged by rain in early July also could be doomed, he said.
After crashing ashore on South Padre Island midday Wednesday, Dolly meandered north, leaving towns on the northern tip of the Rio Grande Valley with a surprise. Officials had feared the Rio Grande levees would breach, but the storm veered from its predicted path and they held strong.
The storm dumped as much as a foot of rain in places and brought 100 mph winds. Those winds had dropped by half Thursday morning, and forecasters canceled the tropical storm warning for the Texas coast by late morning. The storm was expected to break up by Friday, and was centered about 30 miles northwest of Laredo with maximum sustained winds of around 40 mph at 2 p.m. EDT.
A remnant on Thursday blew several roofs off houses and businesses on San Antonio's south side, about 300 miles northwest of where the storm made landfall. There were no immediate reports of injuries, and the National Weather Service sent a storm survey team to determine whether it was a tornado or strong winds.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was scheduled to fly over the region with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn Thursday afternoon.
Down by the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, the city that expected the worst had some of the least to fear.
Residents in the Cameron Park colonia cleared their yards of shingles and tree debris while mosquitoes feasted. But homes were still standing, and residents were thankful the damage wasn't so bad.
"I thought it was going to be worse than it was," Moses Izaguirre said.
A group of Harlingen residents battled a flaming live power line lying on the driveway between two homes. Neighbors rushed to bang on doors and call for people to get out.
"Stay out of the water!" a man yelled at children playing in the muddy mix. But in a sign of returning normalcy, a fire truck arrived minutes after a call to 911.
On South Padre Island, which endured the worst of Dolly's wrath, power could be out for another day, said town spokeswoman Melissa Zamora. A 9 p.m. curfew was set for the second night in row, and the National Guard and FEMA were distributing ice, water and food. Residents and visitors recalled a wild ride.
Bubba Zittle, 22, rode out Hurricane Dolly with five friends on a 65-foot double-decker party boat moored at the south end of South Padre Island.
"But we weren't partying," Zittle said. "It was throwing us around like a beanbag," The thrashing began at 9 a.m. and eased up at 8 p.m., he said, with eight-foot waves in the Laguna Madre, the strip of water between the mainland and the island, crashing over the bow.
North Texas residents Becky Wacasey and her husband, Charles, rode out the storm in their room at the South Padre Island Beach Resort hotel, which had many of its sliding glass doors blown out. Drapes flapped in the gulf breeze, and it appeared some tourists had barricaded broken windows by standing box springs in the openings |
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Girls are like phones. We love to be held and talked to, but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected! |
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SilverMiniCooperS
Inmate of the Asylum
Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 195
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Nowhere near us (380 miles) - but we did finally get some rain from it yesterday but not nearly enough. |
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Vintage Girl
Moderator
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 3434
Location: Essex, England
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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Glad it was nowhere near Jen and good to hear from you. How are things?
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Girls are like phones. We love to be held and talked to, but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected! |
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muppetmurderer
A-cute schizophrenic
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 1350
Location: South East (of the UK of course, Surrey in fact)
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| Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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I understand that a hurricane blew through Essex not that long ago... apparently most people thought that it was an improvement! 
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Do you know what it means when you come home to a little affection, a little tenderness, and a little sympathy? It means you're in the wrong house |
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Matron
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Nov 2006
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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Please try and elaborate in you posts MM as our American inmates would have no idea which you are referring to.
Thank you for your co-operation!
matron |
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kitchenwitch
Inmate of the Asylum
Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 341
Location: Prison City
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| Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Matron wrote: | Please try and elaborate in you posts MM as our American inmates would have no idea which you are referring to.
Thank you for your co-operation!
matron |
I hope your reprimand helps Matron, we don't know what he's on about most of the time regardless of how much he elaborates..... 
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In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
-Oscar Wilde |
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