It's Not a Laughing Matter

 

(image taken from the internet)

Last month I wrote an entry about the flooding in Chalco, a city of over 300,000 people on the eastern edge of the Mexico City metropolitan area.  I included a funny photo that someone created showing a whale jumping out of the flood waters.

However, the situation is not funny.  Yesterday, while riding in Alejandro's car, there was a news report on the radio about the Chalco flood.  Parts of that city have now been flooded for 34 days.  The reporter interviewed one woman who was in tears.  Her home was flooded with "aguas negras"... sewage water.  She said that the stench was horrible, and that people were getting sick.  According to the report the cause of the flooding is that the large tunnel that carries away the rain and waste water is blocked with trash.  Shame on the uncultured slobs who throw rubbish down the storm sewer, and shame on the government for not clearing out the tunnel during the dry season when it would have been an easier task.

I was sitting in a café this afternoon and saw more coverage on damage from storms and rain on the TV.  In northern Mexico, parts of the Monterey metropolitan area are flooded with water waist deep in some places.  In southern Mexico, the city of Oaxaca also has flooding.  In the city of Puebla the storms knocked down trees, and a billboard collapsed.  Here in Mexico City, more than 100 trees have fallen since the beginning of September.