Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

This is an update to the thread from the "old" site. Refugees from there will remember it.

The state and city have banded together to provide several million pesos to relocate families out of the sinkhole danger area as new holes continue to develop here in Lerdo. Remarkably, no one has been injured by these collapses.

There have been no collapses in Gómez Palacio. But there have been several across the river in Torreón.

It has been determined that most of the sinkholes in Torreón have occurred in the Federal Zone where a number of houses have been built illegally. The government has announced that these sinkholes will not be filled in. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued to the families living in the Federal Zone. Those houses will be bulldozed.

When the Rio Nazas was a free-flowing river, it cut a very wide and, sometimes, meandering channel. For this reason there has been controversy over the extent of the Federal Zone. The government is now using satellite pictures to make a definitive determination of the Zone.

Here are pictures of recent collapses in Lerdo. Nobody thinks these will be the last.

Whats the Mexican word for sinkhole Rolly? I wouldn't want to use it as an earthy insult, but the same as 'time shark' in English - someone who wastes other people's time on purpose, they actually seem to enjoy it.

The Torreón newspaper uses hundimientos. My dictionary says sumidero.

Just 13 months ago, we had a devastating flood. Now we are about to see a repeat.

Far away from the path of hurricane Rick, my poor little Lerdo is about to feel it's punch. The storm dropped so much water in the mountains that drain into our Rio Nazas that the two dams are full. The water people are about to open the flood gates again this year and make another life-threatening flood just like last year. Only this time the authorities are making as much preparation as they can -- lessons learned from last year.

We still have 24 families in Lerdo who have refused to move from the sinkhole area. Maybe this time they'll get out of harm's way.

Rolly

With the extent of the damages, it's remarkable nobody was killed, let alone injured