MIAMI -- A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Texas and Mexico coasts as Tropical Storm Dolly churned through the Gulf of Mexico on Monday night.

The hurricane warning in Texas extends from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. The government of Mexico also issued a hurricane warning from Rio San Fernando northward to the U.S. border.

A hurricane watch was also issued Monday night from San Luis Pass to Port O'Connor.

Dolly was expected to make landfall Wednesday as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 74 mph to 95 mph.

In South Padre Island, officials evacuated beach areas and closed off all beach access roads.

In Corpus Christi, the beaches remained full on Monday and home improvement stores said they were actually overstocked on items in preparation for a rush. There were very few signs of any serious preparation for a storm was taking place.

Still, emergency officials are warning residents to prepare for a storm now.

11 News Chief Meteorologist Gene Norman said Dolly was showing signs of intensifying. He said the storm was getting a little more organized and that there appears to be the beginnings of an eye forming.

The storm was expected to bring high winds and dump 10 to 20 inches of rain in coastal areas near the U.S.-Mexican border.  Emergency officials feared major flooding problems and urged coastal residents to prepare.

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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.

Texas officials said they wouldn’t order evacuations along the coast unless Dolly strengthens to a Category 3, with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

At 10 p.m., Dolly was located about 435 miles southeast of Corpus Christ, Texas. It was moving at about 17 mph and had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph.

Gulf hurricanes in July are relatively rare, but not unprecedented.

"If you take a look at the last 109 years, we've had 23 hurricanes make landfall in Southeast Texas [in July]," World-renowned hurricane expert Dr. Neil Frank said.

In fact, a big Category 3 hurricane came ashore just to the south of Galveston on July 21, 1909.

While the Houston area isn’t currently in the predicted path of the storm, it’s too early to tell exactly what Dolly will do in the Gulf.

Shell Oil isn't taking any chances. The company began evacuating personnel from some of its Gulf of Mexico West operations area on Sunday. About 125 people were brought back to shore. Shell planned to evacuate another 60 personnel Monday.

They don't expect any impact on Shell operated production in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Gov. Rick Perry activated 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews. Mindful of the disastrous evacuation before Hurricane Rita hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2005 -- when far more people died from heat-related injuries and auto accidents fleeing the storm than from the severe weather — Perry also ordered 250 buses to be staged in San Antonio. The governor also ordered fuel teams to be ready to keep gas stations supplied and to help stranded motorists.

There are about 2 million people in the Rio Grande Valley, which includes popular summer beach resort South Padre Island. Officials readied to evacuate residents in flood-prone areas and urged RV owners on South Padre to head for higher ground.

“That amount of rain will present a big flooding problem for us,” said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos.

At a Home Depot in Brownsville near the border between the two countries, residents bought plywood, generators, batteries and flashlights, said store operations manager John Paul Martinez. He said a lot of people were just learning of Dolly, which became a tropical storm Sunday.

“We’re expecting it to get a lot busier late this afternoon as people get out of work,” Martinez said.

The federal government was to begin this week constructing the first part of the new border fence in Hidalgo County. While project supervisors met with emergency officials about the storm, large cranes unloaded steel beams and other supplies at a staging area near the levee Monday. Concrete walls will be incorporated into the river side of the levees to keep floodwaters, illegal immigrants and smugglers out.

The county is upgrading other levees and informed contractors Monday they should activate plans to prevent flooding, said Godfrey Garza, head of Hidalgo County Drainage District 1.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cristobal was moving toward the northeast near 13 mph, away from the U.S. Cristobal was located about 265 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph. Forecasters said the storm, which dumped rain on the coast of the Carolinas, was no longer an immediate threat to the U.S.

In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Genevieve formed off Mexico’s coast, but forecasters said the storm was not expected to threaten land. Tropical Storm Fausto also was weakening and moving out to sea.