Juárez residents and authorities continue assessing damages from a flash flood that destroyed homes and turned streets into raging rivers that dragged away vehicles in mountainside neighborhoods.
Luckily, city officials said there had been no reported deaths in the flooding that occurred during a storm about 4 a.m. in the pre-dawn darkness on Wednesday, June 25, in the western mountainside neighborhoods of Fronteriza and Felipe Angeles, across the Rio Grande from the Sunset Heights area of El Paso.
The floods are estimated to have damaged as many as 300 houses, leaving at least 30 homes destroyed and uninhabitable, as well as at least 20 vehicles, the Juárez city civil protection department said in a statement.
Flood waters reached depths of nearly 5 feet in some spots, breaking down walls and roadways with water currents so powerful that they dragged vehicles down the flooded streets, leaving four vehicles stacked at one location.
Juárez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar visited the disaster zone on Wednesday as city crews worked on clean-up efforts, clearing streets and removing mud and debris. The city opened a temporary shelter for 200 people at a community center in Felipe Angeles and another shelter with 60 beds at La Montada Community Center, officials said.
Juárez flooding ‘uglier than last time’
On Wednesday afternoon, Ermelinda Vasquez was trying to see what she could salvage from the mud and water damage inside her small shop where she sells second-hand clothing, sodas and other goods.
Vasquez was asleep and didn’t notice when it began to rain until she was awakened by her daughter telling her that the street was flooding.
“Suddenly, all the people went outside to look because this arroyo starts flowing as soon as it starts sprinkling,” Vasquez said.
“It was uglier than last time,” Vasquez said, adding that the city needs to do more to address perennial flooding problems when it rains.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X. Freelance photographer Luis Torres contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Powerful flash flood damages hundreds of homes, cars in Juárez
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
