The extent of the rains generated by Tropical Storm Dalila left 71 homes affected by flooding and landslides in the metropolitan municipalities of Querétaro and El Marqués, prompting the activation of the state contingency fund for 30 million pesos to support the families.
According to State Government Secretary Carlos Alcaraz Gutiérrez, the Director of Civil Protection of Querétaro Municipality, Francisco Ramírez Santana, and the municipality of El Marqués, the affected areas were the neighborhoods of Loarca, Puertas de San Miguel, Villas de Santiago in the capital of Querétaro, and Rincones El Marqués, Real Solare, Ciudad Maderas, and communities surrounding the El Carmen riverbank in El Marqués.
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Alcaraz Gutiérrez indicated that the majority of the homes affected were in the municipality of El Marqués, where the overflow of the El Carmen reservoir reached three subdivisions and some surrounding communities.
In this municipality, adjacent to the capital, the head of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), explained that 50 homes have been damaged by water entering the reservoir and accumulating rainwater.
In the case of the municipality of Querétaro, the Municipal Civil Protection Coordination reported that heavy rain on Sunday left 21 homes damaged, including collapsed walls and water ingress, in the neighborhoods of Loarca, Puertas de San Miguel, and Villas de Santiago.
Of these, at least 12 homes in the Loarca and Puertas de San Miguel neighborhoods were affected by a sinkhole that opened behind them, in addition to flooding on San Rafael Avenue, reported David Fuentes Cortés, representative of Félix Osores Sotomayor.
Flooding chaos in Querétaro
Fallbacked palm trees, submerged cars, the overflowing Peñuelas Drain, and flooding were the consequences of the rain.
“Currently, 12 homes are affected in Loarca, and in El Marqués, nearly 50 homes were being monitored, all of which suffered minor damage,” explained the state’s Secretary of Government, Carlos Alcaraz.
Separately, Querétaro Municipal Civil Protection Coordinator Francisco Ramírez reported that Sunday’s heavy rains left 21 homes affected, including collapsed walls and water ingress, in the Loarca, Puertas de San Miguel, and Villas de Santiago neighborhoods in the municipality of Querétaro.
He detailed that 9 of the affected homes were in the Villas de Santiago neighborhood, where only 3 homes were serviced due to the magnitude of the damage; while in Loarca, 12 homes in the Hugo Gutiérrez and Puerta de los Naranjos condominiums were affected. In this case, he reported that 11 adults and 4 minors were evacuated in the Hugo Gutiérrez condominium, while in Puertas de los Naranjos, 11 adults and 7 minors were evacuated.
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Doña Leticia, a resident of the Matanzas community, was unable to operate her store for four days due to a power outage caused by the rains.
“This is a drain made of masonry, with a concrete top and some stone, and of course, once the entire collapsed structure is removed, it will have to be inspected to determine where it failed, why the structure may have failed, and the structural stability, because there was evidently erosion that caused undermining, and that led to the collapse of these parts of the homes,” she stated.
Regarding the structural damage in Loarca, she indicated that the priority of the municipal civil protection coordination was to ensure the safety of the people. Therefore, she stated that the coordination conducted a superficial inspection of the structure and that a formal report will determine whether there will be a major impact on the homes.
He also reported that four vehicles were swept away by the heavy rain, one belonging to a telecommunications company in Peñuelas and three in Villas de Santiago. He noted that although a temporary shelter was set up, in all cases, people decided to spend the night in other areas.
Carlos Alcaraz indicated that, to address the situation, the emergency rain fund announced by Governor Mauricio Kuri two weeks ago, consisting of 30 million pesos, was activated to facilitate the work of operational personnel and assist citizens in need.
However, he clarified that only one family voluntarily requested relocation to a shelter, and the other affected families were relocated to their families, so no injuries have been reported.
Source: oem
