Will Ike hit us?

Cameron County officials are keeping watch on Hurricane Ike, which is expected to be a more powerful storm once it makes a landfall projected for this weekend.

Although some hurricane storm tracks have Ike heading toward Corpus Christi, Cameron County could receive "Dolly-type" rains that could cause additional problems in areas still flooded by recent rainfall.

"We are still pumping out water in some of these flooded areas, assuming a similar Dolly-type rainstorm," Cameron County Carlos H. Cascos said Tuesday. "It's going to be worse than Dolly because the ground is already saturated."

Hurricane Dolly dumped rainfall of as much as 15 inches in some parts of the county in July.

Ike's possible arrival has prompted some Rio Grande Valley school districts to reschedule Friday night football games, including the Los Fresnos-Mercedes game that has been moved to Thursday.

On Tuesday, county officials were going through the fundamental things that usually occur during hurricane prepartions, such as making sure all county vehicles are fueled.

County Emergency Management officials were busy contacting the local EOC officials to check their emergency plans.

"(Ike) has changed course four or five times and that is why we have to assume for now locally that we are going to have a significant impact," Cascos said. "If that doesn't happen, great. But we have to prepare as if there is."

Residents who live in low-line areas should continue to monitor the weather and should begin making prepartions to protect their property, Cascos said. Also, some residents should consider leaving their homes in anticipation of flooding similar to Dolly.

Many areas in rural parts of the county remained flooded for several days after Dolly made landfall on July 23. Some properties are still under water.

Cameron County Precinct 4 Commissioner Edna Tamayo said workers have been pumping the areas around Tio Cano and Coco Road near Santa Rosa and Bass Lake near La Feria around-the-clock since Dolly.

Every time it looks like the work crews are making progress, it starts to rain again, Tamayo said.

"It's been raining constantly, and we are extremely concerned," Tamayo said. "We definitely don't need any more rain.

"Do we need another hurricane? No."