Flooding feared from Hurricane Dolly

After Hurricane Dolly unleashed a fury of damaging winds and wicked rain on the US-Mexico coastline and diminished to a tropical storm, widespread flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley became the top concern yesterday.

Dolly, the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season to make landfall, dumped up to 30 cm of rain in the first few hours after coming ashore at the barrier island of South Padre Island, where it ripped off roofs, snapped trees and left about 155,000 residents without power across the region.

Residents emerged from their homes and shelters to walk through streets littered with debris, toppled street lights and downed power poles.