Coastal Texas Begins Clean-up After Hurricane Dolly

Residents in south Texas on the coast have begun the tough job of cleaning up at Hurricane Dolly slammed into the coast on Wednesday, July 23. On Thursday power lines were still down, but according to news reports, many businesses were opening their doors and beginning the clean-up.

The Category II storm was downgraded by Thursday, July 24 as a tropical depression. President Bush declared 15 counties in south Texas as disaster areas to speed up the release of federal monies to the hardest hit areas. Insurance experts are estimating the losses still at around $750 million as of Friday.

Most of the destruction from wind hit the resort area of South Padre Island, where the hurricane’s center came ashore and knocked out power to thousands of homes, ripped off roofs and smashed windows.

According to the Insurance Information Institute many Texas coastal homeowners have windstorm and hail coverage through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) which sells policies to those residing in parts of Harris County and 14 other Texas counties along the Gulf Coast.

Clean up and the repair and rebuilding of some areas could take several weeks, some news accounts have said.