Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 28, 2005 Page: 1 of 6
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THURSDAY
WEEKLY
EDITION
July 28, 2005
92nd YEAR No. 30
#215
IIOAG BOOK. BINDERY
127 RAIL ROAD
SPRINGPORI, Ml 49204
ZONK 6
Rio Grande
HERALD
A Newspaper Serving the People of South Texas
Starr Uounty escapes serious damage from Hurricane Emily
Rio Grande River swollen from Emily rains
The Rio Grande River is pictured near the eastern side of Rio Grande City on Sunday. July 24 after being
swollen by Hurricane Emily-spawned rains in northern Mexico three and four days earlier The height of the
river at RGC on Sunday was roughly 32.5 feet, well below the flood stage of 50 feet. I he river had already
receded to under 27 feet on Monday River flooding had been predicted as a serious possibility in the Roma
area late Friday and early Saturday, but the river level was not as high as had been predicted.
Aldermen wrangle about;
ultimately okay subdivision plat
By KENNETH ROBERTS
At their regular monthly meeting
on Thursday evening, July 14, the
Rio Grande City Board of Aldermen
engaged in intense discussion about
the issue of granting preliminary
approval for a subdivision plat,
with one alderman questioning the
developer's actions and the
deve' >|."t complaining about
actio.I" insisted were taken by
city representatives.
The agenda item called for
"consideration and possible action
to grant preliminary approval to the
plat of Trophy Plex Subdivision
Phase VIII." After fairly lengthy
and intense discussion, the aldermen
unanimously voted to grant
preliminary approval to the plat
Mayor Kevin Hiles told The Rio
Grande Herald on Monday, July 25,
"I think everything was ironed out.
I think it wasn't as controversial as
it seemed. Ultimately, the entire
council was satisfied. .1 think there
was some confusion. I think the
facts came out at the meeting and
the subdivision received preliminary
approval."
Alderman Eloy R. Garcia insisted
at the meeting. "I don't think this
should be approved until we have
reviewed it and they work closer
with ihe city." Mayor Pro Tem
Ruben O. Villarreal commented,
"There are a set of guidelines that
must be followed."
Mayor Hiles asked, "Did they
turn in a set of plans beforehand?"
City Code Enforcement Director
Javier Hernandez responded, "I told
them to stop. This has been looked
at by the city engineer."
City Administrator Leonardo
Olivares indicated, "We're urging
approval as per recommended
changes."
"1 submitted the plans to the city
on May 10," complained developer
Jim Dominguez. "We started work
on Thursday. A city inspector came
out and threatened to put my people
in jail. I understand a cilv
commissioner made threats that
people would go tojail."
Villarreal stressed. "The only
thing Ihe city can do is fine them."
City attorney Jacqueline Salinas
slated, "The city can levy fines and
obtain an injunction."
Olivares later told The Rio
Grande Herald, "I don't know if that
allegation by Mr. Domingue/ is
true. I can't say until I have the
facts. Right now that matter is
being looked into. M y
understanding is that they had
started digging trenches for
utilities."
"You want to make sure
everybody is following the rules,
but you don't want to unnecessarily
(See ALDERMEN, Page 6)
Guillen praises volunteers
for Operation Lone Star work
AUSTIN - Civilian and military
health professionals reunite this
week for Operation Lone Star. OLS
is a two week training exercise that
also provides free medical and
dental services to Rio Grande
Valley residents.
"Operation Lone Star will be a
great success and provide much
needed assistance to the lives of
men, women and children in Starr
County," said Representative Ryan
Guillen. Last year OLS provided
health screenings, care, and
medication for 8,176 Rio Grande
Valley residents, of which more
than 3000 were Starr County
residents.
OLS operates with the
combined efforts of civilian health
professionals and U.S. military
medical personnel. It also utilizes
the support of volunteers and state
and federal health agencies. In
OLS. elements of the National
Guard and Reserve forces come to
RGCPD, Fire Dept. officials
attend WMD seminar
Hour officials of the Rio Grande
City Police Department and Rio
Grande City Fire Department
attended a seminar concerning
matters related to Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) on June 20-23.
2005 in Las Vegas. Nevada.
Attending the seminar were
RGCPD Assistant Police Chief
Noe Castillo, RGCPD Defective
Ben Gonzalez. RGC Fire Chief
Ricardo Reyes and RGCPD
firefighter Ignacio Cantu
The training was entitled "WMD
Radiological/Nuclear Course for
Hazardous Materials Technicians "
The course was conducted b\
Bechtel Nevada Counter Terrorism
Operations Support, with Ihe
assistance of the University oi
Nevada-Las Vegas and the National
Nuclear Safety Administration.
Castillo explained, "We learned
about decontamination skills,
dealing with mass casualties, using
radiological meters, and how to
detect radiation in transport. We
learned how to suit up and how to
use chemical gear. We learned about
different types of radiation."
Castillo emphasized, "It was a
very intense and interesting course
that involved much hands-on
training."
Those completing the course
(See SEMINAR, Page 6)
By KENNETH ROBERTS
Managing Editor
The onslaught of Hurricane
Emily upon the northeastern
Mexico coast last Tuesday and
Wednesday brought heavy rains and
gusty winds to Starr County, but
the county escaped ihe powerful
cyclone with very minimal damage
as most observers gave positive
reviews to the efforts of local
entities to prepare for the storm.
Local officials and observers had
feared serious and potentially
catastrophic flooding problems, but
Emily's steady and soaking rains
turned out to be beneficial as most
areas of the county received 2 to 3
1/2 inches Gusty winds, especially
strong when the hurricane made
landfall Wednesday morning, caused
only minor damage to trees and
roofs.
Emily, first christened as a
tropical storm on Monday. July 11,
plowed through the Caribbean Sea
before making landfall on the east
side of the Yucatan Peninsula late
Sunday night. July 17 with
sustained winds of 135 miles per
hour. On Saturday, July 16, Emily
packed sustained winds of 155
miles per hour, the highest w inds
ever recorded for an Atlantic
hurricane in July.
Less than 12 hours later, Emily
reemerged into the Gulf of Mexico
in a weakened condition with 75
mph winds, but began to strengthen
at a rapid rate during the early
morning hours Tuesday. By late
Tuesday afternoon, Omily was a
Category Three hurricane with
sustained winds of 125 miles per
hour.
Some weather observers predicted
that Emily would strike just south
of the mouth of the Rio Grande
River, which likely would have
proven devastating to the Rio
Grande Valley. Emily finally began
a long predicted turn more to the
west Tuesday morning and made
landfall roughly 75 miles south of
Brownsville on the Mexican coast
at roughly 6:35 a.m. on
Wednesday, July 20. Emily packed
a powerful punch against northeast
Mexico, but the Valley was spared
from the most powerful winds and
the heaviest rains. Miraculously,
press reports indicated no fatalities
in Texas, northeastern Mexico, and
the Yucatan Peninsula.
The worst weather in the
immediate Rio Grande City area
seemed to occur between 6 and 7
a.m. Wednesday when one of
Emily's "feeder bands" stormed
through with extremely high winds
and very heavy rain. Some
observers believed that winds were
at least 40 miles per hour and
perhaps higher.
County Judge Eloy Vera stated
on Monday, "Thankfully, it didn't
hit us with the full force that it
could have...There was only some
minor flooding in low-lying areas
like La Grulla and Las Lomas.
Some people from these areas were
evacuated to shelters. As far as we
can tell, no water got into homes
any where...The worst of the
weather was between 6 and 7 a.m.
Wednesday."
"It was very minor (wind)
damage; a few places had minor
roof damage," emphasized the
ludee. "There were a few fallen
trees. Some roof damage was caused
by fallen trees; it was minor
damage."
Starr County Emergency
Management Coordinator Romeo
Lopez commented, "We fared very
well. We were very fortunate that
God spared us from really serious
problems."
Rio Grande City Mayor Kevin
Hiles stressed Monday night,
"There was no significant damage.
There was some wind damage and
tree damage and a few power
outages, but overall we were
fortunate...I'm glad there was no
loss of life and property damage
was very minimal...Overall, the
rain was very beneficial to the
entire county ."
Hiles commented, "It would have
been a very different story if the
storm had gone 35 lo 40 miles
further north."
"There was some minor flooding
on Embassy Road, but that road has
had major problems for many
years." added the mayor. "The
problems from Emily were
probably less than at other times "
Gene Falcon, who served as
Logistics Director for the county's
emergency effort, emphasized on
Friday. "Overall, we're very blessed
to have weathered the storm as we
did. It brought beneficial rain to the
entire county. We had a little bit of
Hooding in the usual low-lying
areas...The La Grulla area had a
little bit of flooding, as did Lav
Lomas. We have received no reports
of damage."
Leonardo Olivares. C11 \
Administrator for Rio Grande Cits
(See HURRICANE, Page 4)
RGCCISD to begin 2005-2006
classes on Monday, Aug. 15
the Rio Grande Valley to provide
free medical care to local residents
as part of their training for future
emergencies when a trained and
experienced response is needed.
"Operation Lone Star provides
an excellent opportunity .for
representatives of the Texas
Department of Health, Rio Grande
Valley area health officials, and
members of medical and dental
training institutions to work side by
side with military health
professionals," said Rep. Ryan
Guillen. "Teamwork between our
joint military services and the local
community is important to make
this project a tremendous success,"
Guillen added.
Operation Lone Star will be
located this year at Ringgold
Middle School in Rio Grande City
from July 25th to August 4th.
Services are offered between 8:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays
and from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
on July 30th and August 4th. Other
locations include La Joya and
Brownsville.
Free services offered on a first
come - first serve basis include
immunizations, sport physicals,
blood pressure screening, medical
referrals and preventative health
education. Some new services this
year include tuberculosis skin
testing, cholesterol and nutritional
(See LONE STAR, Page 6)
Ihe Rio Grande City CISD will
begin classes for the 2005-2006
school year on Monday, Aug. 15,
2005.
Pre-Kindergarten &
Kindergarten
Early registration for the Alto
Bonito, La Grulla. and La Union
areas will be held on August 4 & 5
at the Alto Bonito Cafeteria from
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
August 8 & 9 will be for all
other Rio Grande City Pre-
Kindergarten and August 10 & 11
for Kindergarten. Students will be
registered at the Alternative School
Cafeteria at Fort Ringgold from
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m during this
week.
Campuses with Pre-
Kindergarten enrollment are
Ringgold Elementary, Gen.
Ricardo Sanchez Elementary,
Roque Guerra Elementary, North
Grammar Elementary, John &
Olive Hinojosa Elementary, La
Union Elementary, Alto Bonito
Elementary, and La Grulla
Elementary.
Students who are four (4) years
of age on or before September 1.
2005 will be tested, assigned and
admitted to one of the campuses
that has Pre-Kindergarten
enrollment.
Students who are five (5) years
of age on or before September 1,
2005 will be admitted and assigned
to one of ihe campuses that has
Kindergarten enrollment.
Registration for all other
students new to the district will be
held on August 12 through 19 at
the Alternative School Cafeteria at
Fort Ringgold from 8:00 a.m to
4:00 p.m.
■
Parents must bring Birth
Certificate. Social Security card.
Immunization record and school
documentation of their children to
the registration site.
A series of steps must be
followed before students report to
campus. These steps are as
follows:
1. Admissions- Clear with Mr.
Nance Munoz. Admission Officer
(Alternative School Cafeteria) in
Fort Ringgold.
2. Immunizations - Clear with
Mrs. Imelda Ramon, Director,
Immunizations will be provided, if
needed (Alternative School
Cafeteria).
3. Testing - Clear with Mr. Miguel
Villarreal. Supervisor.
Students who are four (4) years of
age on or before September 1, 2005
(See CLASSES. Page 6)
I'mm
■
Emily's winds make presence felt in county
Although Starr County and the Rio Grande Valley were spared from a knockout blow b\ Hurricane Lmih. the
storm made its presence felt with gusty winds and heavy rains, mostly on Wednesday. July 21 High vsinds
caused minor roof damage to a few homes and knocked branches off a number of trees I he RGC I ire
Department indicated that a few power lines were brought down This stop sign in eastern Rio Grande C.'it>
was evidently knocked somewhat sideways by Emily's winds
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 28, 2005, newspaper, July 28, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196331/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.