Part of Anahuac is already underwater as more gates of Venustiano Carranza dam were opened yesterday.. I was trapped in Lampazos for a couple days and there were a lot of Anahuac evacuees in that town.
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Louise Power <power_lou...@hotmail.com>wrote: > This from the Austin Statesman: > > Mexican town evacuated over fears dam may fail 18,000 flee as flooding > from Hurricane Alex threatens to overflow dam south of Laredo. > NUEVO LAREDO, Tamaulipas — More than 18,000 people were evacuated Tuesday > from a town in northern Mexico that was flooded after authorities opened a > dam's floodgates for fear it would overflow from rains that accompanied > Hurricane Alex. > > Evacuees were taken to shelters in nearby towns and cities, Ciudad Anahuac > Mayor Santos Garza Garcia said. > > The Venustiano Carranza dam, about 43 miles away, reached its capacity > after days of heavy rains, including remnants of the hurricane, which > slammed into Mexico's northern Gulf Coast last week. > > Garza Garcia said that to avoid overflow, 20 floodgates had been opened by > late Tuesday, but authorities were unable to open 6 others because of > electrical failures. He said the dam was releasing 600 cubic meters per > second into the Salado River, a tributary of the Rio Grande. > > "The situation is very critical," Garza Garcia said. > > Authorities said they were being careful about releasing water from dams > into already swollen rivers. > > Sally Spener, public affairs officer for the International Boundary and > Water Commission - which operates the Amistad dam - said the commission had > tried to limit releases Monday "so that we would not exacerbate the > flooding." > > North of Ciudad Anahuac in Texas, officials in Laredo were preparing to > close one of its international bridges before the Rio Grande crested late > today or Thursday. > Bridge One, which links downtown Laredo to Nuevo Laredo, was expected to > close tonight before the river crested at an expected 33 feet. > > But Laredo spokeswoman Xochitl Mora said the span could close sooner > because officials worried that pressure from the water flow could damage the > bridge. Three other bridges linking the cities would remain open. > > Also in Texas, a subdivision along the border was evacuated as the Rio > Grande rose. > People left the Vega Verde neighborhood in Del Rio as more water was being > released into the Rio Grande. A statement from the U.S. National Weather > Service said that "flooding is worse on the Mexican side of the river." > > At nightfall Tuesday, the National Weather Service reported the Rio Grande > at 10.3 feet at Del Rio - 6.3 feet above flood stage. The river was expected > to reach 10.5 feet early today . The weather service said the Vega Verde > neighborhood would be under 4 feet of water if the river reached 11 feet. >
