90 hours later, rains from ‘Jonh’ give respite to Acapulco

Acapulco, Gro. After raining for 90 hours, since last Monday at approximately 9:40 p.m., the precipitation caused by the hurricane John They subsided in Acapulco on Friday around 3 in the afternoon, leaving behind hundreds of evacuated people, dozens of neighborhoods and roads flooded or collapsed, towns cut off from communication, damage to avenues, landslides of hills, fallen poles and trees, businesses closed or looted. , lines to enter supermarkets, food shortages and at least three people dead, including two minors.

Since early Thursday morning, authorities from the three levels of government and the armed forces have been working to evacuate hundreds of families trapped in housing complexes in the Diamante area, in the corridor that connects the Luis Donaldo Colosio complex and Llano Largo.

The municipal president of Acapulco, Abelina López Rodríguez, mentioned that the most urgent thing is to evacuate the people trapped in different points of the Diamante zone, estimating that between 3 and 5 thousand people live in this sector, so she asked the population for their support with boats to carry out the rescue.

He warned that in subdivisions such as La Marquesa, Las Gaviotas, Rinconada del Mar and Colosio, the water reached two meters high, since in this housing area the Sabana river and the Tres Palos lagoon and its tributaries converge; and stressed that Acapulco’s 79 stormwater channels are overflowing.

The Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) reported that as of Friday morning, almost 2,000 people had been evacuated in Acapulco and there were 33 temporary shelters enabled.

The Sedena indicated that more than 6 thousand elements of the National Guard and more than 3 thousand elements of the Mexican Army participate in the application of plans GN-A and DN3-E in their phase of aid to the population, through the commands. of the Ninth Military Region and 27th Military Zone.

201 vehicles of the National Guard and 103 vehicles of the Mexican Army, in addition to five aircraft of the Mexican Air Force, are used for different tasks, for the rescue and evacuation of people to shelters, providing security and food; as well as removal of fallen trees, mud and debris from communication routes.

They also towed vehicles dragged by the current and carried out preventive tours to avoid acts of plunder.

Meanwhile, more than 300 people were evacuated from five buildings with 10 apartments each, in the fifth stage of the Infonavit Alta Progreso housing unit, due to the collapse of a stone masonry wall, 60 meters long by 30 meters wide. broad.

Brigades from the General Coordination of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Acapulco evacuated approximately 300 people on Friday at noon, who were transferred to the temporary shelter of technical secondary school one; while 32 people moved to relatives’ homes.

In another incident, residents of the Infonavit Centro Acapulco, on Farallón Avenue, requested the intervention of authorities and the National Guard, to prevent residents who have been living irregularly for 30 years in a ravine that is located between Cuauhtémoc Avenue, the Bora subdivision Bora and Infonavit, supported by a leader, break the wall that provides security to the inhabitants of this housing complex, by accusing that in past years there was the theft of clothes, gas tanks and other irregularities, in addition to being a private place .

While the spokesperson for the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opponents of the La Parota Dam (Cecop), Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz, pointed out that the increase in the levels of the Papagayo River since Thursday morning caused the flooding of towns such as Las Parotas. , Rancho Las Marías, Los Ilamos, Parotillas, La Concepción, Aguacaliente, El Rincón, Salsitrabajos, El Cantón, Los Ilamos, Aguascalientes and Bellavista Papagayo, due to the rising of the Papagayo River. Likewise, they are cut off by roads in poor condition, Barrio Nuevo de los Muertos, Apanhuac, Apalani, Huamuchitos and El Campanario, which “are very highly marginalized communities that are located on the other side of the river.”

Suástegui Muñoz accused that opening the Ambrosio Figueroa de La Venta dam in recent hours caused the overflow of a huge amount of water, affecting the lives of communities dedicated to producing in the countryside, considered the poorest in the municipality.

He insisted that the rains recorded since Monday caused damage to homes, roads and the loss of corn, pumpkin, bean, lemon and coconut palm crops, which have ended up being lost, after first being affected by the drought and a brief and irregular rainy season.

He stated that “the river reached the communities and entered the houses, it demolished two houses in El Carrizo, in Cacahuatepec it entered the schools, the houses, the police stations, all the crops were damaged, the people had to practically swim among the cornfields to try to rescue some cows or goats”, so he asked to dismantle the La Venta dam.

For his part, the president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Service and Tourism (Canaco-Servytur) of Acapulco, Alejandro Martínez Sidney, expressed that the situation in the city is out of control.
He maintained that the city is collapsed and local authorities have been overwhelmed.

Martínez Sidney expressed that “we merchants have managed to control the robbery and shortages, but it is getting out of control and we require support in strengthening security.”

The president of Canaco Acapulco stressed that “we have fragile areas where there is housing, there are residents trapped on their roofs, the authority has tried with its tools and gone to their rescue, however the situation is out of control, it is necessary to redouble the presence of the federal government.