Floods drive residents out in Mexico

Published: July 24, 2008 at 12:37 PM
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This NOAA satellite images taken on July 22, 2008 shows Tropical Storm Dolly as it makes its way through the Gulf of Mexico. Dolly intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf and is expected to make landfall just below the Mexico- American border on Wednesday. (UPI Photo/NOAA Handout)
This NOAA satellite images taken on July 22, 2008 shows Tropical Storm Dolly as it makes its way through the Gulf of Mexico. Dolly intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf and is expected to make landfall just below the Mexico- American border on Wednesday. (UPI Photo/NOAA Handout) | Enlarge Enlarge
MATAMOROS, Mexico, July 24 (UPI) -- More than 13,000 people sought refuge in government shelters as Hurricane Dolly flooded low-lying Mexican border country.

One such hard-hit area was in Matamoros, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, where Dolly unleashed strong winds, heavy rains and rampaging floodwaters and many had to make the hard choice to whether to flee their battered homes or try to ride it out, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

One was Bertha Casares, whose evacuation decision was a tough choice.

"We didn't think it was going to be a big deal," she said after wading out of her house in water up to her hips, her children and elderly mother in tow. "Life is worth more than possessions."

Arcadio Escobar, one of the police officers on hand to help evacuation, plucked 120 people from the water before the flood got too high and he ran out of gas.

"There are still a lot of people in their houses and they are asking help," said Escobar, taking notes from evacuees on the locations of others in distress.

The government deployed 1,800 soldiers and state police to Matamoros to prevent looting.

Mexico's state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, evacuated 66 workers from an offshore rig near the Tamaulipas coast, the company said.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



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