Tlajomulco de Zúñiga has applied for financial assistance from the State Fund for Natural Disasters following the massive storm that battered the southern metro-area municipality on the night of Friday, September 30, impacting more than 750 homes in 23 fraccionamientos, or subdivisions.
Mayor Alberto Uribe issued a state of emergency after hundreds of residents were forced to abandon their properties when floodwaters rose to dangerous levels.
Rapid access to the disaster fund will allow around 300 families to quickly replace household items ruined by floodwater entering their homes.
Dozens of canals and streams overflowed during the late-night tempest, while storm drains brimmed over as sewage pipes were unable to handle the large volume of stormwater runoff.
The floodwaters began to subside Monday when residents began the thankless task of cleaning their homes and gardens from the mud, sewage and refuse left behind.
More than 200 public servants, including Tlajomulco Mayor Alberto Uribe, rolled up their sleeves to help out neighbors, as additional pumping equipment was brought in from neighboring municipalities.
The water has been slow to recede because most local waterways and reservoirs are filled to the maximum, Uribe noted.
State health authorities have dispatched teams into neighborhoods to safeguard against potential health hazards, such as dengue or zika, and administer vaccines where appropriate.
Uribe lamented the lack of hydraulic infrastructure in the municipality and urged the National Water Commission to intervene and speed up work on the “Colector de El Zapote,” a major drainage system that he said will alleviate much of the flooding.
Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval said the situation in Tlajomulco has been exacerbated by a lack of parallel infrastructure planning during the construction of new subdivisions over the past decade.
A center for donations for victims of the flood has been set up at Zaragoza 80, San Agustín, Tlajomulco.
Food parcels are being handed out by some charitable institutions.
The worst affected neighborhoods are Villas de la Hacienda, Jardines del Edén, Valle Dorado, Hacienda Eucaliptos, Paseos de la Hacienda, Concepción del Valle, San José del Valle, Santa Cruz del Valle, Unión del Cuatro and San Sebastián El Grande.
Around 220 hectares of farmland was also affected by the flooding, a Tlajomulco press release said.
According to the Universidad de Guadalajara’s Astronomy and Meteorology Institute, the 72 millimeters of rainwater recorded on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, was higher than the Guadalajara metropolitan area’s record total for the entire month of October.