Flood alert forces evacuation in San Miguel de Allende

Published September 19th, 2021

Civil Protection supervises a water board located in the community of Los Tovares, due to the increase of its capacity derived from the rains; it is at 97 percent of its capacity.

Minutes before 23:00 hours on Wednesday, the 911 Emergency System received a report indicating that there was a possible risk of overflowing because it was at almost 97% of its capacity, so the elements moved to the site.

Upon arrival, they interviewed the owner who described that he uses it for his livestock and that it is 12 meters long, 8 meters wide, and 4 meters deep (384 cubic meters).

During the first hours of this Thursday, personnel from the border area of the Welfare and Social Development Department and the Infrastructure and Public Works Department arrived at the site to help in the supervision work.

They determined that one of the walls is expired so they required the immediate intervention of machinery to make a drainage area and prevent it from affecting nearby homes and the road to the community.

Civil Protection urged the population to take precautions due to the rising watercourses in different areas of the municipality.

Through the 911 Emergency System, they received a report about the overflowing of the riverbed in the community of Santas Marías, so they moved the units to the place and verified that it reached 95% of its capacity.

During the supervision tour, in the community of Puerto de Nieto, the water level was found to be 30% and the main road to the town was affected with water flowing up to 70 centimeters.

On the San Miguel de Allende – Querétaro highway, they are working and attending to the damage caused by dirt and stones in both lanes and a considerable drop in water. At the height of El Huizachal and Puente del Carmen, the riverbed has 70% of its capacity, while at the height of the bridge in the community of Cañajo it is 80%.

Due to this, they foresee a possible significant increase in the Arroyo de las Cachinches, so they call on the population to take precautions and be attentive to official communications, as well as to report any incident to 911.