Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The weekend arrival of cold front 42 left some areas of Quintana Roo flooded. Streets in Playa del Carmen, José María Morelos and Lázaro Cárdenas were some of the areas hit. While Cancun was not affected by heavy rain, navigation was closed to small vessels due to strong winds.
The cold front arrived Saturday as forecast, bringing with it rain and thunderstorms. In Playa del Carmen, Mayor Estefanía Mercado activated “Operation Storm” to deal with mild flooding in critical areas.
“In an immediate response to the rains recorded Saturday, the Playa del Carmen government, led by Mayor Estefanía Mercado, activated “Operation Storm” to clear storm drains and protect residents in areas identified as critical areas.
“Through coordinated efforts between the Secretariat of Public Services and the Secretariat of Civil Protection, Risk Prevention, and Firefighters, operational crews patrolled the main affected roads to remove trash from the drains, facilitate drainage, and ensure mobility,” Darwin Covarrubias Góngora, the head of PDC Civil Protection said.
According to Covarrubias Góngora, his department’s teams joined the supervision and response patrols, monitoring areas at greatest risk of water accumulation to ensure the well-being of residents and visitors to Playa del Carmen.
In addition, the public was called upon to collaborate with prevention measures by avoiding littering in the streets, removing waste at designated times, and keeping sidewalks and frontages clean to avoid clogging the sewage system.
The heavy rain that arrived with the system also caused minor damage in the center of the state in José María Morelos. Aside from waterlogged streets, strong winds dislogeded weak branches from large trees that left some roads blocked.
José María Morelos reported wind gusts of between 40 and 60 kms/h that left a tree felled in the San Juan neighborhood. Vehicular traffic was blocked on Tihosuco Street until Civil Protection and firemen arrived to clear the road.
Forjadores Park was left partially flooded by the Saturday downpour. According to municipal authorities, once the rain stopped, the area self-drained within approximately two hours.
Several streets in the northern municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas were also left flooded by the heavy rains. The rain began in the capital town of Kantunilkín around 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. By the time the system had moved off Sunday, several areas were left under water. Lázaro Cárdenas Civil Protection activated emergency protocols to deal with the sporadic flooding.
