Historic Levels of Rain Leave the Texas-Mexico Border in Ruins, with Officials Slow to Respond
"It feels like we're on our own," said a Texas border resident.
By midday Wednesday, the sky was dark and ominous across the region. The rain started in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas and northern Tamaulipas and didn’t let up until Friday morning, pelting the region heavily through Thursday night.
The relentless rain submerged homes and transformed roadways into rivers from the southern end in Harlingen, and as far west as Miguel Aleman, and neighboring Roma, Texas. As daylight broke on Friday, families were trapped on rooftops, and neighbors and first responders struggled to rescue those stranded in the floodwaters, as communities on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border were left in ruins.
Meteorologists are calling the 21 inches of rain that fell in a matter of hours historic and unprecedented, as U.S. and Mexican residents report that state and federal officials on both sides of the border have been slow to respond to the scale of the devastation.
As of this writing, at least six people have died, according to officials. Three of those deaths were in Hidalgo County, according to a statement by Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez. In neighboring Reynosa, Mexico, city officials reported another two deaths, including an 87-year-old and a person who suffered cardiac arrest during the storm.
The sixth death, and a possible seventh, were reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which didn’t stop its enforcement operations, during the disaster. On Friday morning in the town of Edcouch, according to a CBP statement, Border Patrol agents approached a vehicle that had stopped at a flooded roadway. The driver attempted to cross the flooded road “as agents were approaching” and the vehicle “plunged into a canal.” Border Patrol reported that it recovered the body of one of the vehicle’s occupants but the “other one remains unaccounted for.”
Because the storm was originally forecast to be much less severe, it has been especially devastating for the region. In Texas, cities and counties issued disaster declarations, to receive federal and state funding reimbursements.
On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott who has spent billions on the state-funded Operation Lone Star to “secure the border” attended a lunch at the Governor’s Mansion with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, to discuss bail reform as thousands of people in the Rio Grande Valley waited to be rescued.
When The Border Chronicle inquired about the state’s response to the disaster in the Rio Grande Valley, the Texas Department of Emergency Management responded with a press release that said resources had been “readied” on Monday “in large areas of the state” ahead of the weather, but did not comment on any specific mobilizations as of Friday. Governor Abbott’s press office said on Facebook that "state and local emergency responders” are working together, without providing further details.
“It started pouring heavily around four on Thursday and then from there, it never stopped,” said Vanessa Santiago who lives in Mercedes, Texas. The Border Chronicle reached her by phone on Friday. Santiago said she was trapped in her home by the floodwaters and was struggling to care for her prematurely born baby and her two parents suffering from COVID. “We're stuck in here. And I don't have formula for my baby.”
Santiago said it felt like they were on their own. “It’s just individuals helping out the community right now,” she said. “There's this rescue page where they've been rescuing people all over the valley.”
Santiago says her brother called Mercedes firefighters late Thursday and asked that they take their parents to a hospital as a precaution, as the flooding grew worse. They also worried that her baby could catch Covid.
The firefighters said they were unable to transport her parents to a hospital, according to Santiago, and offered to take them to a nearby shelter instead. Her brother decided against moving them to the local shelter.
Across the river in Mexico, the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal Anaya, arrived in Reynosa early Friday morning to assess the damage. And the federal Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), deployed military personnel to conduct evacuations.
In Reynosa, Brenda Rosales who runs a small business teaching nail design and manicure services, said she had lost everything. “Many of my colleagues lost everything, and my students lost everything too,” she added.
Despite the deployment of soldiers in Reynosa, Rosales said they hadn’t seen anyone in the colonia where she lived, and that food was scarce. “We haven’t seen a single rescue here, any of us. People here are helping where they can, we’re helping each other however we can.”
In Mercedes, Santiago said the scope of devastation would be hard to recover from without the state’s help. “I know that we're going to overcome this as a community, but I mean, right now, it's still a very difficult moment to live through,” she said. “I don't know how we're going to get through this without the state’s help.”
Updated Friday, March 28, 11:30 PM CT to reflect that Brownsville received rain, but not catastrophic flooding.
Updated Saturday, March 29, 12:00 PM CT: Vanessa Santiago’s baby was born in March of 2024.
THERE ARE SOLUTIONS to this disaster and the future
Disaster relief is not a one-man show and it needs families and communities banding together to formalize emergency response in their local neighborhoods. This is a must until the professional first responders can be given a greenlight to deploy and arrive. Unless disaster plans are announced in advance and resources moved forward nothing happens in those dark and lonely times while people are trapped and clinging to life and survival.
Just as groups and communities mobilize to deal with border and legal issues, we need the same level of organizing capability for disaster relief programs along the border.
As with all large cities like Houston, and tiny towns and villages across the State, immediate disaster relief must start in churches and communities, (community groups), and ultimately up to the offices of mayors, and police, and sheriff departments. State and Federal relief is always a day late and a dollar short. In spite of the efforts of FEMA, American Red Cross, and other national organizations, they are always delayed and bludgeoned by State and Federal paperwork that slows the process. There are no quick hit rescue teams that can save a city, community, or village (except for the National Guard, and agencies that can handle large scale logistics). But it requires pre-planning. That planning starts in the city and county emergency operations centers.
"https://www.hidalgocounty.us/85/Emergency-Management"
If you want answers you start at this link to ask the questions of how was the emergency response structured, and whether they OEM had enough resources. You need a journalistic approach or a community representative approach so that you can open doors and ask questions. Otherwise it will be face-time and not much else.
After you have talked to the Sheriff's offices and the OEM, and you come up short on understanding and answers. The next step is Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) that are formed for every community and coordinated with training from city and county fire departments, and police agencies. The role of CERT teams are to establish the first line of protection for people until First Responders can arrive and take over.
Please allow me to suggest opening a discussion on where we could begin to work on saving lives and communities. For all of the advocacy groups on the border--you are perfectly organized to provide the extensions and organizing efforts to build and raise CERT teams. It requires dedication, and a willingness to no longer put your heads down and let someone else do the job.
"We" have to work together and it has to cross political lines and biases.
When you are chest deep in flood waters you don't care which hand reaches out to save you. You hope for your prayer to be answered.
When you are bed ridden and the flood waters are up to you mattress you pray, you cry, and you scream for help for anyone to find you.
These are the stories I can tell.
I have spent over 20 years working on hurricane disaster relief, both as a member of Civil Air Patrol, and the Texas State Guard. Over those many years and to this date I have witnessed many successes and failures in emergency response. My thoughts and beliefs on what should be done at the community level are further reinforced by the reporting in this article. I can help, but this is not a one-man show. I currently working on First Responder drone and UAS training programs through the Bailey Military Institute for STEM education. The institute was founded by MG John Bailey after he retired from the US Army, to bring hope through aviation programs, and to help underserved communities in Houston.
Has anyone seen funds for assisting people in the flooded areas yet, or are there organizations helping out?