Have you ever wondered or wanted to know what the city looked like? Here we tell you when the last major flood in Mexico City was and show you some of the most impressive photos of what the city streets looked like when they were filled with water.
When was the last major flood in Mexico City?
According to the National Center for Disaster Prevention itself, the last major flood in Mexico City occurred on July 15, 1951, when rain caused the streets of the city center to fill with water, forcing people to use wooden boats and improvised rafts to get from one point to another.
According to experts, this natural disaster occurred because the metropolitan area of Mexico City is located right in a lake region delimited by a mountain system, where the lower area of the basin is the most urbanized. So, during the rainy season, the natural course of water can cause flooding in different parts of Mexico City, not just in the center.
The flood lasted three long months
In the last great flood in Mexico City in 1951, the rains caused the accumulated water level to be so high that boats were needed for people to get around, or wooden bridges so they could cross. Some articles and reports from those years even indicate that the flood lasted about three months, leaving two thirds of the country’s capital under water, with a depth of two meters in the lowest areas.
According to Muy Interesante, a text by Adrián Figueroa in the newspaper La Crónica indicated the following: “That Sunday evening was going on normally. People were walking through the streets, having fun in the movies or shopping, when the sky darkened and the intense rain began, the largest rainfall of the second half of the twentieth century, with fifty cubic millimeters per hour.”
And yes; The flooding reached Tepito and Lagunilla, which, according to the newspaper Excelsior, became a real lagoon. While in areas such as Santa María la Ribera, Nonoalco, 16 de Septiembre Street, Madero, among others, they could only be crossed with rubber rafts or boats.
The damage even reached neighborhoods such as Condesa, Roma, Obrera, Doctores, Portales and more, leaving a total of almost 30 thousand people affected.
How did they solve it?
The capital authorities of those years decided to pipe the Churubusco River, build sumps and pumping plants from the main collectors to the Grand Canal, in addition to increasing its capacity with the expansion of hydraulic sections and the construction of the second Tequixquiac tunnel, which was completed in 1954.
So, why do some floods still occur in Mexico City? According to the National Center for Disaster Prevention, it is due to unplanned urban development, invasion of federal zones, old infrastructure, excess garbage in the sewer pipes, among other reasons.
Source: sopitas
