July 13, 2010 · The flooding along the Rio Grande continues despite the fact that it’s been almost two weeks since Hurricane Alex made landfall. The combination of neglected weathered down levies and overflowing upstream reservoirs has added up to communities along the Rio Grande dealing with river water coming into their homes.
“We have a people vs. Nature story going on down here in South Texas.” Cari Lambrecht is the Hidalgo County Public Information Officer. “Hurricane Alex and tropical depression 2 dumped lots and lots of water not only on us – not only on the river – but up stream – in the mountains of Mexico – and basically the entire Rio Grande River Basin is draining right now.”
Los Ebanos, a town of about 300 people in the Rio Grande Valley, was issued a mandatory evacuation order Monday night.
On Tuesday residents of Penitas left their homes as the International Boundary and Water Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers raced to shore up their levee with large rocks and sheet metal.
Emergency management officials say the flooding won’t be over any time soon. They tell us it could be 10 to 20 days until the water recedes.
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