Migrants were rained out of detention sites or makeshift shelters by Wednesday’s thunderstorms on both sides of the border.
Hundreds of families living under a gazebo or in tents and tarps tied down to trees and benches at a plaza two blocks away from the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge were rained out in the morning.
“Mainly it was the man-made tents that got destroyed and completely taken down by the wind,” Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, cofounder of the Sidewalk School, said.
Volunteers shared tarps and rope ahead of the storm Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to keep them dry. Most of the migrants were forced off the plaza’s grassy areas and into a large gazebo.
People crammed under the gazebo’s roof with tarps strapped down its sides to block rain and winds.
“One of the sheets, or tarps, was flying off of it almost completely,” Rangel-Samponaro said.
Many wore masks as hundreds crammed inside.
“It’s just like how it was in the Matamoros encampment after a major storm,” Rangel-Samponaro said. “People lose everything, because everything gets flooded.”
On the U.S. side, U.S. Border Patrol agents also prepared a day in advance.
“On May 18, 2021, the transfer of all migrants from the Donna Processing Facility to other facilities within the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector began as a proactive measure in response to forecasted inclement weather. Operations at the temporary processing site in Granjeno, Texas, were relocated to the McAllen Border Patrol Station and will remain there until the weather forecast is favorable,” a statement read.
Agents continued to release certain migrants in McAllen at Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s respite center. Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director, said they received close to about 500 people, a little higher than average.
The storm affected their COVID-testing procedures. Testing is normally conducted after migrants are released from Border Patrol and before they are allowed inside the respite center. They get tested at tents set up two blocks away, but storms and rain will alter the protocol.
“When storms like this happen what changes for us is the testing for COVID since it’s outside in a tent and water tends to — especially if the storm is strong — it can bring down the tents,” Pimentel said. “The plan is to always move them to an area within the respite center where the testing could happen that is isolated and separate.”
Pimentel is also helping coordinate humanitarian efforts in Reynosa. A shelter is currently expanding their capacity to hold up to 1,000 people . Those plans were affected by Wednesday’s inclement weather, but Pimentel said they hope to be completed within two weeks.
