Nuevo León, Mexico — More than 400,000 people were left without power Thursday due to the arrival of Tropical Storm Alberto. Personnel from the the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) began restoration Thursday afternoon after the majority of the storm passed early Thursday morning.
According to the CFE, 477,272 residents in six states were affected by the power outage. The state hardest hit was Nuevo León. The CFE currently have 1,697 electrical workers in 497 vehicles deployed across those six states to make the necessary repairs.
“The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) restored electricity to 80 percent of those affected by the impact of tropical storm Alberto, which represent 5 percent of the total of 9 million registered users,” they reported.
Tropical Storm Alberto affected the states of Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Nuevo León where the CFE reported the largest outage at over 320,000 homes.
The CFE reported that the affected regions still have rain and winds due to the remnants of Alberto and that the power failures were “due to the large amount of water that has fallen.”
While Alberto was forecast to hit the state of Tamaulipas, it was the state of Nuevo León that was most affected. Alberto hit the region around 4:30 a.m. from the Gulf of Mexico. Its arrival left the state’s Santa Catarina River overflowing. Santa Catarina flows through the capital city of Monterrey, resulting in one of its main avenues being completely closed.
Nuevo León State Civil Protection reported nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
One elderly man accidentally drove his Blazer into a sinkhole that opened up due to the heavy rain. The 81-year-old driver, Don “C”, found himself nose down in a water-filled sinkhole Thursday morning.
Don “C” said he was returning home using a different street around 7:10 in the morning when he encountered the hole.
“I left my house to go to a nearby bank and on the way back I took 15 de Septiembre Street and before reaching the intersection, the pavement suddenly collapsed and I completely fell into the hole,” he said.
The man was able to get himself out of his vehicle (man in yellow rain jacket on sidewalk) and onto the road where he was helped by passing motorists.
Civil Protection and city firemen confirmed he was not injured and proceeded to call a tow truck to remove his vehicle from the sinkhole.
