Rains on the Tehuantepec Isthmus leave hundreds of victims and infrastructural damage

OAXACA, MEXICO (September 13, 2021).- Hundreds of victims left the intense rains in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , Oaxaca due to the intense rains that were registered during yesterday Sunday due to the passage of tropical wave number 9.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a region of the Mexican geography that includes the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Chiapas, and Tabasco.

The greatest damages were registered in La Ventosa, belonging to the municipality of Juchitán, where more than 80 percent of the population was flooded last night.

La Ventosa is a town of about 4000 inhabitants in the municipality of Juchitán de Zaragoza, in the state of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. The name means “the windy one”.

The intense rains caused the growth of streams and canals, as well as the overflowing of the Lagartero River, which caused the water to enter the houses causing damage to the homes.

Hours of emergency were experienced during the early hours of this Monday. Neighbors had to organize to rescue the families trapped in their homes and take them to a safe area. A boat belonging to the Juchitán Fire Department had to be used to rescue the children, women and the elderly.

With machinery, they broke a section of the Pan-American highway to allow the water to drain. This caused the water level in the houses to gradually decrease during the early morning hours.

The communities of Santa María del Mar and Playa Vicente, belonging to Juchitán municipality were also affected by the rains.

So far the number of victims is unknown, only in La Ventosa, there are more than one thousand damaged homes.

Source: El Heraldo de México