Maverick County and Eagle Pass apply for Disaster Area designation to Governor Perry
By: Jose G. Landa
An Exclusive Eagle Pass Business Journal News Story/Copyright 2013
The City of Eagle Pass and County of Maverick, Texas are applying to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s Office to declare and designate both entities a national disaster area as a result of the over 16.65 inches of rainfall which drenched and flooded this United States-Mexico border community on the Rio Grande River during June 14-15, 2013 according to Eagle Pass Mayor Ramsey English Cantu. Mayor Cantu stated that the June 15th flood caused damage to over 140 homes and over 65 persons were rescued by boat from their flooded homes by a joint rescue task force including the Eagle Pass Fire Department, Eagle Pass Police Department, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Border Patrol, Southwest Texas Advisory Council of San Antonio, Texas, Eagle Pass Independent School District, Texas Department of Public Safety, and local volunteers.
According to the National Weather Service from San Antonio-Austin, Texas, Maverick County received over 16.65 inches of rain within a 36 hours period during June 14-15th causing extreme and severe flooding of the Elm Creek in northern Maverick County, the Rio Grande River, Seco Creek in northern Maverick County, and Farm to Market Road 1021 known as El Indio Highway in southern Maverick County, and many other low lying areas and Colonias within Maverick County.
Should Governor Perry’s Office grant the City and County’s application for national disaster area, Maverick Countians will become eligible for state and federal relief programs to assist them with their damages and rebuild their properties, streets, highways, and other flood control projects in the future.
The National Weather Service attributed the sudden and unexpected flooding in Maverick County due to a stalled upper-level low pressure area over northern Coahuila, Mexico in the Sierra Madre Mountains causing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to accumulate and dump torrential rains for a 36 hours period.
All of the Maverick County floodwaters drained directly into the Rio Grande River causing the Rio Grande to crest atop its banks and almost reach the top of the two City of Eagle Pass International Bridges connecting to its sister city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
The Elm Creek in northern Maverick County also crested outside its banks to a record level flooding Highway 277 North impeding vehicular traffic and transportation between Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas for three days including today, Sunday, June 16th, according to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Office in Laredo, Texas. Highway 277 North in Maverick County is an important transportation corridor for international trade between the United States and Mexico as many trucks entering the United States from Mexico at the Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico land port of entry use it to travel from Laredo to California and vice-versa. Many tractor-trailers were still parked on Highway 277 North a mile or two from the Elm Creek Bridge crossing waiting for the water to recede and the Highway be reopened by the Texas Department of Public Safety as of Sunday, June 16th. Other tractor-trailers turned around and searched for other longer route alternatives to cross through to Del Rio, Texas and onwards to their destinations in the State of California and vice-versa.
According to Mayor Cantu, there are no reported deaths to date despite the massive flooding problems in Maverick County. Mayor Cantu attributes the outstanding work of all law enforcement agencies and the joint rescue task force organized by these entities. Without the joint rescue task force being operational, the recipe for fatalities within the community as a result of the severe and raging floodwaters could have been disastrous.
