By Chris Baltimore
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly gathered strength as itapproached southern Texas on Wednesday, but forecasters don'texpect it to pack much punch when it comes ashore near theU.S.-Mexican border at around midday.
The storm's maximum winds increased to about 85 miles perhour over warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. NationalHurricane Centre said.
The Miami-based centre forecast further strengthening andsaid Dolly could approach Category 2 intensity when it makeslandfall.
While still a low-grade storm, some damage to roofing andwindows, and considerable damage to trees, mobile homes andpiers can be expected.
The storm's predicted landfall and strength are unlikely tojeopardize sensitive offshore drilling rigs and productionplatforms in the U.S. and Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico.U.S. crude oil prices hit 6-month lows before recovering.
The National Hurricane Centre has said Dolly is unlikely tobecome a major hurricane prior to landfall, but could dump asmuch as 15 inches (38 cm) of rain on South Texas andnortheastern Mexico in coming days.
At 5 a.m. EDT (10 a.m. British time), Dolly was 65 mileseast-southeast of the border town of Brownsville, Texas, whereit was due to come ashore. A hurricane warning was in effectfor the south Texas coast as far north as Corpus Christi.
Dolly intensified from a tropical storm and became thesecond hurricane of 2008 Atlantic storm season on Tuesday.
FLOODING POSSIBLE
Though Dolly remained the weakest category of hurricane,officials in low-lying South Texas counties are worried thattorrential rains could overcome levees holding back the RioGrande River and cause flooding.
The United States has largely escaped the past two Atlantichurricane seasons, with just one hurricane -- Humberto inNovember 2007 -- making landfall on its coasts.
But it was pummelled in 2004 and 2005, when a series ofpowerful hurricanes, including the catastrophic Katrina,ravaged Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry put 1,200 National Guard troopson alert and issued a disaster declaration for 14 low-lyingcounties in the southern part of the state, although nomandatory evacuations were ordered.
Some 250 buses stood by in the inland city of San Antonioto evacuate coastal residents if needed.
In the Rio Grande Valley, Veronica Mascor was one ofhundreds of volunteers filling sandbags in an attempt to keepthe flooded Rio Grande out of nearby neighbourhoods.
"They gave us 20 each," Mascor said. "I hope it will beenough."
Brownsville residents scurried to hammer plywood overwindows and shore up their homes.
"I'm worried," said Angel Rivera, who was boarding up hishome. "It's a wooden house. Can't take any flooding."
In the Mexican city of Matamoros, across the border fromBrownsville, authorities evacuated 23,000 people fromflood-prone areas and urged residents to seek temporaryshelter.
"If they wish to leave for a shelter, we will gladlytransport them," said Saul Hernandez, head of civil protection.
At Mexico's Playa Bagdad beach near the U.S. border, policeput up road blocks to keep people away from increasing choppywaters.
(Reporting by Chris Baltimore in Houston, Jim Forsyth inSan Antonio, Michael Christie in Miami, Tomas Bravo in PlayaBagdad, Mexico, and Mariano Castillo in Mexico City, Editing byAnthony Boadle)
