After a tropical system dumped a year’s worth of rain on the Rio Grande Valley during a two-day period last week, public officials are still assessing the damage while preparing to combat an expected explosion of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
After a tropical system dumped a year’s worth of rain on the Rio Grande Valley during a two-day period last week, public officials are still assessing the damage while preparing to combat an expected explosion of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen said on Monday morning that areas of Cameron County were still under water.
He said the county was conducting pumping operations in areas near Los Fresnos and Santa Rosa.
“We know we have at least 100 homes destroyed,” Hushen said, explaining that these homes had water that was more than four feet deep inside of them. “And we’re probably going to have 400 to 500 that are damaged.”
However, the full cost of the flash floods hasn’t been determined. Hushen said the State of Texas and the Red Cross have sent damage assessment teams into Cameron County.
And flood water still remains a challenge for county officials, who, on Monday, were still unable to reach some places.
“It’s going to take a little time because there are some areas that we can’t get in because the water is too high,” Hushen said.
During the height of the flooding, which occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, Hushen said emergency responders conducted approximately 100 rescues.
By last Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for six South Texas counties, including Cameron.
The National Weather Service estimated the Rio Grande Valley experienced $100 million in damage from last week’s flooding, The Monitor reported.
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat whose district includes McAllen, sent a letter last Friday to President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William B. Long asking for financial support to residents in the Rio Grande Valley and the Coastal Bend region by declaring a federal disaster area.
A more complete version of this story is available on www.myBrownsvilleHerald.com
