Oaxaca : Up to 1,000 feared dead

[Deleted]

OAXACA, Mexico — Up to 1,000 people might have perished after a rain-soaked mountainside gave way and buried hundreds of homes in southwestern Mexico, the local governor said Tuesday.

Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz told the Televisa television network that the 4 a.m. landslide wiped-out at least 300 homes in the town of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, population 9,000.

"There could be between 500, 600 people, maybe 1,000" dead, the governor told Televisa.

"We haven't reached the location yet," Ruiz said, adding that rescue teams were being dispatched to the area.

"There has been lots of rain, rivers have overflowed and we're having a hard time reaching the area because there are landslides on the roads," he added.

Heavy rain in the mountains of Oaxaca state loosened the soil around the town, about four hours' drive from the capital of Oaxaca, a city famous for its colonial buildings and nearby archeological sites.

Heavy rains have fallen on Central America and parts of Mexico for days as two storm systems moved across the western Caribbean.

Parts of Mexico are enduring their worst rainy season on record, which has triggered heavy flooding and forced thousands of people from their homes in vulnerable parts of the country.

In Oaxaca state alone, rains and flooding in recent days have claimed 10 lives and impacted 250,000 people.

-- from MSNBC

[bixaorellana]

The city of Oaxaca itself has been declared a disaster area. Much of it is built on hills, and the neighborhoods at the base of some of the hills are flooded and mudded out. It has rained for 12 straight days here, including all day yesterday and all last night.

CNN México reports that four rivers in the state have overflowed their banks, 20,000 people have been affected, and 5,000 houses have severe damage. I suspect that many poverty-stricken, rural areas haven't been included in the statistics yet.

No one I know is affected in any way beyond mere inconvenience, but everyone reports trouble sleeping. You can hear the rain all night and imagine the havoc it's causing.

www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/37977/mathews-rain-may-have-caused-h-1.asp

[Deleted]

From your photos, I knew you weren't right next to the mountains, but you could have been in the middle of a flood plain!

[lagatta]

This is horrible, bixa. I've just been hearing about it now. Are there underlying reasons (loss of ground cover, erosion, poor planning or none etc) that the death toll would be so high?

[mich64]

Hello Bix, the uncertainty of the situation must be very stressful. I am hoping the news improves throughout the day for all concerned.

[bixaorellana]

LaGatta, you've hit the nail on the head. The infrastructure in this state is horribly inadequate due to pervasive corruption. The rescue parties are having trouble getting in because the roads have collapsed in so many places. What excuse is there for that?

I don't know the erosion situation in that particular area, but there are some areas of the state where you'd think one hard rain would completely melt the denuded countryside.

For you & others who read Spanish, a glance at this report gives an idea of how abandoned this part of the population is in general: www.eumed.net/cursecon/libreria/mebb/6.htm

Kerouac and Mich, I appreciate your concern. Even though I'm not affected personally, this kind of thing is very sad.

[BigIain]

Hi Bix, just making sure you are OK. I had a 20 second panic getting here from the Pot. A terrible thing indeed, genuinely terrifying I would imagine.

[Deleted]

relieved to know you are safe!

[bjd]

I too saw the news on the BBC. Glad to hear that your immediate area is not in danger.

[komsomol]

Good to know that all is well! Any problems near where you live?

[voy]

whew. and charlie has reported elsewhere that they are ok too.

[Deleted]

I had been wondering about how much rain was falling, because I watched all of those hurricanes coming to die in the middle of Mexico.

[cristina]

Bixa, I am happy to see you're OK. Nevertheless, I can imagine that the situation is stressful, even if not in your immediate area.

[bixaorellana]

Oh, you all are kind! Thanks so much for the concern, I really am fine.

My landlord, who knows the area that was hit by the mudslide, said it's a beautiful and fertile region, specializing in a particular kind of corn, plus peaches and a special agave used to make pulque. ( ).

I had to go to the covered market in the city center today. Every single stall had a tv tuned to disaster coverage, some of it being updated by the minute. There was more gaping at news than actual shopping going on. While I was waiting to get my coffee beans, a report came in that the bridge in the university area was in danger of being over-topped. Part of the road to the airport is closed, and perhaps the airport itself. (?)

Here's a map showing where the landslide was in relation to the city of Oaxaca, where I live.

[hwinpp]

Puh, just saw this on the news this morning. It looked terrible.

[Deleted]

However, the death toll has been revised down to "just" a couple dozen or so.

[happytraveller]

Glad you are safe Bix !

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Happy!

Forgot to say earlier -- I couldn't get a newspaper this afternoon. Every one of the two major local papers were sold out.

This is absolutely horrible for the people living through it, but it pales in comparison to the similar recent disasters in Pakistan and China.

[hwinpp]

Do you get good TV coverage and updates, Bix?

[bixaorellana]

HW, my tv is not in service (boring story), so going downtown and seeing the blanket television coverage of the mudslide the more local problems caused by the rain was interesting. Generally we get good news coverage here, although the local tv station is a mouthpiece for the government. (& was taken over & run by a group of dissident housewives in August '06! <--watch the video)

The two local newspapers are on opposite sides of the political fence, which is good.

Here's the online version of the one I like: www.noticiasnet.mx/portal/ You can see at a glance how much of today's coverage has to do with weather damage.

There are several radio stations, plus the many small independent ones in isolated communities.

Another note about problems caused by the rain ~~ Oaxaca is expected to lose 20% of its projected coffee harvest if the rains persist throughout October. The price of coffee has already risen.

[bixaorellana]

More havoc:
latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/09/another-landslide-mexico-deaths-confirmed.html

[Deleted]

And if I am not mistaken, more rain is on the way.

[bixaorellana]

Say it ain't so! According to this forecast, we should be catching a break.

This was one of the weather-caused problems in the city of Oaxaca:


That four-lane highway is new, one of the many public works of dubious necessity and execution by our outgoing governor. If you read Spanish, here are some citizen comments on the highway slide.

[bjd]

Has there been any deforestation there? It seems that there are so many mudslides in Latin America -- another in Colombia the other day. Would the area around Oaxaca have had more trees before?

[bixaorellana]

There is terrible deforestation in Mexico, Bjd. I've been places in this state that resemble moonscapes.

The mudslide in Sta. Maria Tlahuitoltepec was foretold. <-- This link refers to the same problems mentioned in #22 above.*

Those of you who've seen my thread on the hills behind my house know about the extremes between dry and wet seasons. Nature seems to take care of itself where people don't interfere, but fire is a big problem and can denude these hills. Dirt roads turn into conduits of liquid mud when it rains hard.

*Go here for more on Oaxaca politics.