Ciudad Juarez, Mexico – Mexican officials on Friday drained excess water from a large earthen dam that had reached full capacity following four days of heavy rains in this northern city bordering El Paso, Texas, and said it was not currently at risk of overflowing.
Authorities evacuated more than 4,000 families living near the dam earlier in the week as a precaution and kept an eye on 69 smaller dams throughout the city amid forecasts of more rain. The evacuations were obligatory, but many families resisted and face being forced out.
Federal officials declared the city a disaster area due to the extensive flooding and damage to homes, roadways and infrastructure caused by the rains. Authorities estimated the losses at about 500 million pesos (US$45.5 million; euro35.57 million).
Across the border, El Paso leaders ordered several neighborhoods near the city’s downtown evacuated Thursday after engineers warned that if the 30-year-old dam broke, up to 6 million gallons (23 million liters) of water from the Rio Grande River could rush into the city.
The earthen dam has a capacity of 500,000 cubic meters (17.6 million cubic feet) of water.
Ciudad Juarez residents, some of whom lost some or all of their belongings in the flooding, huddled in public shelters or stayed with relatives as they awaited further instructions.
