(September 19, 2008)—Gov. Rick Perry has issued a disaster declaration and is seeking a presidential declaration for Presidio County after the failure of a levee that protects Presidio from the swelling Rio Grande.

The levee failed Thursday and water is creeping toward populated areas of the normally dusty West Texas border town.

In a statement, Perry said the situation "poses an immediate danger to the residents of Presidio."

The governor authorized the use of five CH-47 helicopters, which officials say will be used to drop large sand bags around a railroad trestle.

In addition, 150 prisoners are being brought in from a low-security facility to help fill sandbags to create a dam.

Officials say a second levee failure is probable and that if it happens in an area upriver from the makeshift dam, "all bets are off" on the trestle plan.

Rio Grande levels appeared lower Friday, and residents reported the water is receding.

The levee break is on the eastern edge of the town of 5,000 people about 250 miles down river from El Paso.

But the town is far from in the clear after two weeks of watching the river that divides it from Ojinaga, Mexico.

The Rio Grande has been rising because of heavy rains and the forced release of water from the flood-stricken Luis Leon Reservoir on the Rio Conchos in Mexico.

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