4 LDS missing in Mexico flood
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PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico — Flash flooding from heavy rains sent 10 feet of water bursting through the Villa de Fuente neighborhood on Monday, April 5, knocking cement block homes from their foundations and carrying automobiles downstream.
Thirty-three people were killed in the torrential waters and about 2,000 were left homeless following heavy rains that dumped five inches of water in one evening, raising the waters of the Escondido River 25 feet in 15 minutes. Four Church members — a father, mother and two children — are among those missing. Eighteen homes of members were damaged and one was destroyed.
The Mexico North Area presidency responded immediatly with assistance. LDS Humanitarian Services, partnering with Sandy, Utah, a sister city of Piedras Negras, and the Piedras Negras Rotary Club, has sent food, bedding, hygiene kits and clothing as needed, said Garry R. Flake, director of LDS Humanitarian Service.
President Salvador Escobedo Enriquez of the Piedras Negras Mexico Stake said the water reached 10 feet high almost instantly when the river flooded. One meetinghouse was flooded with about three feet of water, he said. He described helicopters rescuing people from the floods that evening, and people running for their lives from the flash flood.
"The river began to flood with great force, in some places the people had five minutes warning, in others half a hour," he said. "Some people saved some of their things, but for others it was impossible."
He said that many Relief Society sisters, missionaries, and priesthood holders are helping clean streets, but because of the high level of contamination, many areas have not been re-opened.
