reconnecting
Listening for events…

The Dexes / Coastal / 130313

Eventdex · Coastal

COASTAL WILLACY

130313

The record

Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.

event_typeStorm Surge/Tide
ncei_event_id130,313
episode_id21,694
begin_utc2008-07-23T18:24:00+00:00
end_utc2008-07-23T20:42:00+00:00
stateTEXAS
cz_typeZ
cz_nameCOASTAL WILLACY
deaths_direct0
deaths_indirect0
injuries_direct0
injuries_indirect0
damage_property200.00K
damage_crops0.00K
wfo_sourceCOOP Observer
episode_narrativeHurricane Dolly, the first storm since Bret (1999) to make landfall along the Deep South Texas barrier islands, left a trail of widespread minor to moderate structural and natural damage across much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas on July 23rd, and dumped copious rainfall across the area, causing numerous instances of flooding primarily of low lying and poor drainage locations, as well as filling local resacas and arroyos, and causing notable rises on larger area creeks and rivers. Dolly intensified rapidly to an estimated minimum pressure of 962 mb while drifting northward just east of South Padre Island, and its center made landfall between 1 and 2 PM on July 23rd along the unpopulated shoreline of Cameron and Willacy County. Dolly then eased westward across southern Willacy County through the afternoon, continued into extreme northern Hidalgo County as a tropical storm during the evening, then turned northwest and accelerated through Jim Hogg County during the early morning hours of the 24th, passing into Webb County shortly after sunrise.||The strong winds and heavy rains contributed to widespread power outages in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where at least 236,000 customers lost power, but possibly upwards of 250,000 - primarily across the more populated regions of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy County. Agricultural experts deemed a substantial loss of cotton and sorghum due to the strong winds and torrential rain. As of the end of Calendar Year 2008, estimated insured property damage (wind) based on the standard doubling of insurance estimates from the Property Claims Service of the Insurance Services Office was $1.05 billion. Reported insured flood damage from FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program is $171 thousand; however, it is estimated that the vast majority of flood damage occurred to uninsured properties, and a rough estimate of total flood damage, which was more widespread, and includes agricultural losses, will likely push total flood-related damages to between $100 and $300 million. ||It is conceivable that total damage from all Hurricane Dolly related hazards may have exceeded $1.5 billion.||More than 6,000 Lower Rio Grande Valley residents were housed in temporary shelters from Deep South Texas to San Antonio at the peak of the storm; 13,000 residents across the Lower Rio Grande Valley visited FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers after the storm. As of October 3rd, FEMA had distributed $44 million in relief; $30 million to individual households, nearly $10 million to small businesses through the Small Business Administration, and just under $5 million to local governments for infrastructure repair.||Please note that best estimates will be included on a county by county basis as data is received through the rest of the year. ||Storm total rainfall from the evening of July 22nd through the early afternoon of July 24th generally ranged from 4 to 10 inches in Kenedy, Brooks, Starr, Jim Hogg, and Zapata Counties, and 6 to 14 inches in Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron Counties, with locally more than 18 inches possible in the persistent southern eyewall in northern Cameron and southern Willacy Counties. Widespread freshwater flooding occurred in these areas as Dolly moved through, and low lying, poor drainage, or areas where drainage systems failed were flooded for days, and in some cases weeks, to come.||The late intensification of Dolly just prior to landfall, combined with a brief northward jog before turning to the west along the Cameron/Willacy County line, limited Gulf storm surge effects across the Town of South Padre Island through mid morning on the 23rd. However, hurricane force west winds whipped an estimated 3 to 4 foot water rise from Laguna Madre across the Town, with water briefly stretching across the Island at the height of the event. The town of Port Mansfield, immediately north of the center, estimated a 4 foot storm surge and 5 foot storm tide. ||Interestingly, tides to the north of Dolly's center initially fell to below predicted values on increasing northerly winds, before rising during the late afternoon and evening as the cyclone moved inland, and strong southerly flow piled a storm tide of up to 6 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) along the uninhabited Kenedy County shoreline.||There was a single confirmed tornado in Cameron County during the late evening of July 22nd, associated with one of the first outer rain bands. No damage was reported.
event_narrativeThe landfall of Dolly's center along the Cameron/Willacy County line, and westward drift bisecting the Willacy County shoreline on Laguna Madre, caused two separate tide rises and falls. The initial rise, during the late morning into early afternoon, preceded landfall, and was related to the general surge to the northwest of the cyclone. Estimates by the Port Mansfield Harbormaster and staff were a surge up to 3 feet, and a storm tide up to 4 feet, at this time. Minimal damage was sustained at the Port, though a number of docks and piers were compromised.||Based on station datum at Port Mansfield, a peak tide of 5.12 feet was observed at 236 PM CDT, which converted to a storm surge of 3.06 feet.||As winds backed from north to west, the tide quickly ran out during the mid to late afternoon. However, toward evening, as winds continued to veer to the southwest and eventually back around to the south, tides rose again, to a lesser extent, later in the evening and overnight. Data were not available for the overnight period.
year2,008

Provenance

This slot's source list is not carried on the manifest row; open the dossier below.

Storage: spine

COASTAL WILLACY — Coastal — TerraPulse