Riviera Maya, Q.R. — While most of Quintana Roo is waterlogged, it is the southern region that has been hit again, and hard. Some areas have so much water standing in the streets, local residents have seen fish swimming alongside sidewalks.
On Friday morning, a young Chetumal woman snapped a quick shot of a school of dark colored fish swimming alongside her neighborhood sidewalk. The school, consisting of a few dozen fish, were seen swimming in the murky water along Francisco Bocanegra Avenue after the nearby La Sabana lagoon overflowed.
More intense rain hit the south and central regions of Quintana Roo Thursday night. Heavy downpours were forecast to continue into the early afternoon of Friday. The Director of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Erika Ramírez Méndez said up to 200 millimeters of additional rain was expected.
She said between Thursday and Sunday, around 150 and 200 mms of rain is forecast. The rains came again after days of pumping and cleaning Chetumal streets from the first torrential rain a week ago that dumped 340.3 mms of rain on the south.
On Friday morning, rural residents in the central municipality of Othón P. Blanco woke to find their dirt road turned into a raging river. Civil Protection personnel were on one side and police on the other helping stranded residents.
On Friday, the Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana of Quintana Roo said “due to the constant rains and the existence of a landslide on a dirt road, support was provided to the inhabitants of the towns of Palmar, Sergio Butrón Casas, Ucum and Carlos A. Madrazo in the municipality of OPB.
“Due to the rising water in these areas, in coordination with different authorities, the elements carried out the rescue of the people who were at risk, to be transferred from their homes to safer places, between relatives’ homes or to the established shelters so that they can be safe.”
Other municipalities affected by most recent rain include the municipality of Felipe Carillo Puerto with 412.8 mms.
On Thursday night, military were in the streets with government officials rescuing stranded people. “We are currently carrying out rescue and relief work in Chetumal. Heavy rains will continue overnight, early morning and tomorrow,” Governor Lezama reported Thursday night from a rain soak street in Chetumal.
This week, nearly a dozen boats were reported sunk due to the winds and downpours. Boat owners in Akumal Bay and Tulum scrambled to get their boats on land.
Photo: June 19, 2024.
The wet weather is forecast to stick around for the duration of the weekend affecting mostly the south and central areas of the state.
