BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Haunted by hurricanes past, officials in Erin-soaked Texas were taking no chances Sunday, stockpiling gasoline, buses and airplanes to get residents out of harm's way -- Hurricane Dean -- in a hurry.

    Authorities handed out sandbags, opened emergency operations centers and evacuated inmates in a region still sodden from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which caused severe flooding Sunday and at least nine deaths from Texas to Minnesota.

    "We're preparing for Hurricane Dean just as if it is going to be direct hit," said Johnny Cavazos, the chief emergency director for Cameron County at the state's southernmost tip.

    A state of emergency was declared in the resort town of South Padre Island from where about 3,300 jail and prison inmates were to be bused to correctional facilities elsewhere by Sunday night.

    R. David Paulison, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in Washinton up to 100,000 people might have to be evacuated from the state's southeastern coast and its immigrant shantytowns near the Mexican border. The storm is on course for northern Mexico, but could shift and hit the region around Brownsville, Texas, Paulison said.

    Flooding from what was left of Erin forced about 1,000 people to evacuate homes in Abilene on Sunday. The level of preparation for Dean was influenced by memories of two destructive hurricanes that hammered the Gulf Coast region in 2005.

    "In part, it is because of the unfortunate events from Rita and Katrina," Cavazos said.

    Dean, projected to reach Category 5 status, was forecast likely to make landfall Wednesday somewhere along the coast of northern Mexican or southern Texas, the National Hurricane Center said.

    (Agencies)