First-person account by Linda Giles, AFL Automotive
April 10 -- Piedras Negras, Mexico
Saturday began as a cool, partially cloudy day. I arrived in Piedras Negras looking for the main plaza where AFL's volunteer brigade was to gather and then visit co-workers' homes to assess damages and assist them with clean-up efforts. As I drove across the Rio Escondido bridge, I saw some of the damage caused by the flood of the previous days. I saw fallen trees, demolished houses, scattered furniture and appliances, and a stroller standing upright among the debris, alongside the river that had swollen a few days earlier due to the heavy rains of April 5th, where the flood waters had swept everything in their path.
I finally found the plaza after overcoming some heavy traffic, due to street detours, and due to many organizations and people that were there to help the flood victims, including the military, church groups, government agencies, and other groups. Oddly enough, in spite of all the traffic and people around, I felt a sense of silence throughout the day, as we walked through the streets searching for our coworkers addresses. I guess it was the silence of the aftermath of a flood.
Finding addresses is not an easy task in Mexico under normal circumstances, much less when streets or houses have been demolished. Many houses were abandoned or completely destroyed by the flood. Others had already been marked with an "X" by the military, signifying that they were to be demolished because they were damaged beyond repair.
I saw a taco vendor's cart splattered against a tree and couldn't help but wonder how far that cart had traveled with the flow of the water and if that was the owner's only means of support. For many of the houses, I looked for signals of a water line which would indicate how high the level of the water had gotten, but I found out that many of the houses did not have a water line because some houses had been completely submerged by the water.
But I also saw signs of hope and faith. As we walked among debris of houses that were along the river, I saw a picture of the Virgin that had been posted by someone on a fence. We also saw the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe in a yard of an associate's house. Everything around had been destroyed, the house had been submerged in water, and you could see debris on tree tops, yet the statue of the Virgin remained intact. Someone had placed a figure of Christ on a cross next to her and I assumed someone had been praying before them after the flood waters had subsided.
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Flood Disaster in Piedras Negras...
April 15, 2004 -- Alcoa Foundation approved a grant for $US25,000 to support the Mexican Red Cross (Cruz Roja Mexicana) following flash flooding in the Piedras Negras area of Mexico. The money will be used for medication, household goods, and other materials. More than 300 AFL Automotive employees live in three subdivisions ("colonias") devastated by the heavy rains last week.
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