Tropical storm Dolly graduated to a hurricane and that means thousands are preparing for heavy rain and lots of wind.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christ as tropical storm Dolly officially became hurricane Dolly this afternoon.

With winds picking up to 75 miles an hour the first heavy bands of rain began falling in places like South Padre Island.

That is putting the lone star state and others along the coast on high alert.

From Governor Rick Perry notifying the National Guard to be ready, to residents making sure they have fuel in their cars.

Nobody wants to be caught unprepared.

"We're looking at seventy-mile-per-hour winds or better, so we're going to be prepared. We have everything pre-cut and labeled, ready to put up every year,” said one Texas resident.

Part of life along the coast is preparing for hurricane season and the worst that it has to offer.

Residents are boarding up homes and businesses, getting ready to evacuate when the call comes

"We recommend that you keep half a tank of fuel all the time during hurricane season it wont cost nearly as much as when it is time to fill to the top so that you can get a safe distance from the surge zones," said Harris County Emergency Management coordinator, Mark Sloan.

Hurricane Dolly is expected to drop as much as a foot of rain in the southern part of Texas here and as much as four feet near coastal areas.