Mayor calls for voluntary evacuation of city
County, city preparing for Dean strike
Mayor Pat Ahumada Jr., has issued a voluntary evacuation of Brownsville residents, beginning Saturday.
The issue was ordered as Hurricane Dean poses a possible threat to the Texas coast.
Ahumada will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. where he will release more information on the order.
Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said the county will make a decision after a 4 p.m. meeting today whether to issue the same order.
Meanwhile, South Padre Island Mayor Robert Pinkerton has declared a state of emergency for island residents as Dean is predicted to make landfall at midnight Thursday, about 60 miles south of the island as a Category 3 or 4 storm, according to the National Weather Service.
Tropical storm force winds are expected on the Island as soon as Wednesday with possible winds reaching 50 mph, according to SPI spokeswoman Melissa Zamora.
Storm surge is expected between 12-14 feet, plus waves at 18-20 feet, Zamora reported.
“No one here has seen such predicted wave activity,” Pinkerton said. “That’s equivalent to a three-story building.”
Pinkerton has implemented the town’s emergency action plan. The state of emergency will last for no more than seven days, unless it is continued by consent of the Board of Aldermen, Zamora wrote in a prepared statement issued Saturday morning.
The declaration is a reminder to residents and visitors to closely monitor the weather.
