Mayor: Acapulco is Ready for Rainy Season

(Acapulco, AN 17 May) Rainy season officially began on Sunday. Yesterday the mayor of Acapulco, Manuel Añorve Baños, presided over the installation ceremony of the Municipal Civil Protection Council, a body designed to help handle any emergencies caused by the heavy inundations expected throughout the summer and fall. In his statement he called on citizens to pay attention to notices and warnings from this authority, adding “we cannot take these events lightly, and [the warnings] could save your lives.”

The port city is divided into 25 subzones for emergency response. Several of these subareas are considered to be risky because of flood dangers, rockslides and washouts. The mayor reported that 14,000 persons live in 2,174 dwellings in such areas of very high risk. The City has identified evacuation routes in those areas and has set up 107 temporary shelters, heliports and service support centers with medical assistance.

Weather forecasts for rainy season include 6 hurricanes in category 1 or 2, 3 in category 3, and 5 tropical storms. The city is watching 22 beds of rivers and streams, which clog up with garbage and refuse during dry season (due to the low culture and lack of concern of the local residents), and then overflow and flood the neighborhoods that caused the problem. An additional 35 flood sites have been identified, mainly street crossings where storm drains cannot handle the heavy runoff.

Representatives of the Army and Navy were present at the meeting, to help coordinate emergency response procedures.