Texas fears floods as Tropical Storm Erin nears

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - South Texas braced Wednesday for Tropical Storm Erin to bring torrential downpours to a state that already has had one of its rainiest summers on record.

As the storm’s outermost bands of rain touched the Texas coast early afternoon, homeowners had already started heading to hardware stores in the Rio Grande Valley for supplies to board up their houses.

“They know the drill; they’re familiar with it,” said Ruben Dimas, assistant store manager at a Home Depot in Harlingen.