Government Officials Blasted for Handling of Mexican Storms Crisis Tracy Wilkinson - The Los Angeles Times
go to original September 28, 2013

A woman stands amid the rubble of her home at Coyuca de Catalan, in Guerrero state, Mexico on Sept. 24, 2013. The death toll from twin storms that recently lashed Mexico has continued to rise. (Mario Vazques/AFP/Getty Images)

Mexico was hit nearly two weeks ago by two storms that pounded its eastern and western coasts simultaneously: Tropical Storm Manuel, which did major damage to impoverished Guerrero and other Pacific states, and Hurricane Ingrid, which lashed Gulf Coast regions like Veracruz state.

... Mexican officials said September was on course to being the rainiest month in Mexican history. The twin storms spawned damage in 26 of Mexico’s 31 states; 312 “municipios,” or counties, were declared in a state of emergency and 250 in a state of disaster. The storms destroyed or crippled interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, schools and airports.

But the storms were not entirely to blame. Years of corruption, politically expedient building in geographically dicey locations, illegal logging that deforests much of the countryside and other abuses have rendered parts of Mexico especially vulnerable to the extreme whims of weather.

Plus, through generations of Mexican calamity, governments at all levels have routinely ignored or downplayed warnings, opting instead to take advantage of high-profile disaster relief operations that look good on camera.

Read the rest at The Los Angeles Times

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