Dolly downgraded to tropical storm in South Texas

By Joe Mitchell BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly moved inland after tearing into the South Texas coast on Wednesday with 95 mph (150 kph) winds, pouring torrential rain on the U.S.-Mexico border area before being downgraded to a tropical storm. Officials feared Dolly's rains still would cause flooding problems in the coming days, possibly overwhelming levees along the Rio Grande. Dolly, the second hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, dropped up to 12 inches of rain in the first few hours after coming ashore at the barrier island of South Padre Island, where it ripped off roofs, bent palm trees in half and left thousands of residents without power. "You've got your horizontal rain and things are flying everywhere," said Kevin Hoffman, 52, who rode out the storm in his boarded-up home in nearby Port... [read full story]