BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Hurricane Dolly came ashore in South Texas around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday as a Category 2 storm, according to 11 News Meteorologist Gene Norman.

Dolly packed pounding winds of up to 100 mph as it slammed South Padre Island and Port Isabel.

Dolly is only the second hurricane in history to hit South Texas in the month of July. The last one was in 1934.

Hurricane Dolly’s leading edge blew down signs, damaged an apartment complex and knocked out electricity to thousands as it hit the Gulf Coast on either side of the Texas-Mexico border early Wednesday.

Forecasters warned of up to 15 inches of rain that could produce flooding and breach levees in the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.

In Mexico, fields were filling with water, palm trees were bent over in the wind and beaches were closed to the public.

“I don’t know if my poor house will withstand the rain and wind,” said 102-year-old Maria Miguel Selso as she fled her wooden shack in the fishing community of Higuerilla late Tuesday. Selso left with seven family members, including her great-grandchildren, to spend the night at a convention center-turned-shelter in Matamoros.

AP photo

Portions of an apartment complex roof is blown off by high winds as Hurricane Dolly makes landfall Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in South Padre Island.

On Texas’ South Padre Island, an apartment complex roof partially collapsed early Wednesday, though the extent of the damage wasn’t immediately clear. Residents said they didn’t believe anybody was injured, but there was no immediate information available from officials.

The causeway linking the island to the mainland remained closed early Wednesday.

Dan Quandt, a spokesman for South Padre Island emergency operations, said winds were picking up to around 50 mph and were expected to increase later Wednesday morning. He said there was a steady rain falling, but no reports of flooding. A sign on a hotel blew off, but no one was injured and it did not pose a hazard, he said.

Power was knocked out to more than 13,000 customers in Cameron County, where Brownsville is located, utility company AEP Texas said.

In Brownsville, palm trees leaned and small debris was strewn across the all-but empty streets. The windows and doors of shops were boarded up with plywood and most businesses—including gas stations—were closed. At one gas station, workers were pelted by horizontal rain as they scrambled to lock pumps and close down.

Apartment residents evacuate after Dolly blows part of the roof off a South Padre Island complex.

Cities and counties in the Rio Grande valley were preparing as officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks.

Texas officials urged residents to move away from the Rio Grande levees because if Dolly continues to follow the same path as 1967’s Hurricane Beulah, “the levees are not going to hold that much water,” said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos.

Charles Hoskins, deputy emergency management officer for Cameron County, said there were nearly 2,000 people in six shelters in the county late Tuesday.

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World-renowned hurricane expert Dr. Neil Frank will join 11 News Chief Meteorologist Gene Norman on 11 News at 5, 6 and 10 with the latest on Tropical Storm Dolly. Send Doc and Gene your hurricane questions to web@khou.com.

In Hidalgo County, a little bit farther inland, six shelters holding about 900 people were open, said Cari Lambrecht, a county spokeswoman. She said people living in low-lying areas were encouraged to come to shelters.

“It’s so much easier for them to go now instead of us having to pull them out later,” she said.

In Mexico, Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said officials planned to evacuate 23,000 people to government shelters in Matamoros, Soto La Marina and San Fernando.

MIKE MILLO

Dolly's 100 mph winds knocked down this sign on South Padre Island.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly’s projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm’s effects.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for areas adjacent to the hurricane zone and Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers to areas in the storm’s path.

The storm, combined with levees that have deteriorated in the 41 years since Beulah swept up the Rio Grande, pose a major flooding threat to low-lying counties along the border. Beulah spawned more than 100 tornadoes across Texas and dumped 36 inches of rain in some parts of south Texas, killing 58 people and causing more than $1 billion damage.

“We could have a triple-decker problem here,” Cavazos told a meeting of more than 100 county and local officials Tuesday. “We believe that those (levees) will be breached if it continues on the same track. So please stay away from those levees.”

Jay Carnes & Mike Millo

Around Brownsville, levees protect the historic downtown as well as preserved buildings that were formerly part of Fort Brown on the University of Texas at Brownsville campus. Outside the city, agricultural land dominates the banks of the Rio Grande, but thousands of people live in low-lying colonias, often poor subdivisions built without water and sewer utilities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was evacuating its Port Isabel Detention Center, said spokeswoman Nina Pruneda. Fewer than 1,000 people were being sent to other detention centers in Texas.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs, but said it didn’t expect production to be affected. It also secured wells and shut down production in the Rio Grande Valley, where it primarily deals in natural gas.