World

Mexico's Deadly Deluge

October 7, 1999 / 10:23 AM EDT / AP

The scope of the death and damage caused by last week's mudslides has shocked Mexico and the world. But where they occurred was no surprise: A zoning plan drawn up last year called for removing houses built helter-skelter in the ravines of this mountainside city.

There seemed to be no rush. Some of the houses had been in place for decades, and officials lacked the funds or political will to force residents to less perilous locations.

But last week's pounding rains caused huge slabs of hillside to break away, sending avalanches of mud rushing down on houses below.

By Monday, the official death toll stood at 349 across southeastern Mexico, but it was expected to go much higher. Unofficial counts, based on accounts from local officials and witnesses, ran as high as 600.

More than 271,000 were forced from their homes.

The flooding and mudslides were caused by more than a week of relentless rain, capped by a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, forecasters were still predicting heavy rains in nine states.

Washed-out bridges and roads have isolated hundreds of communities, while landslides destroyed or damaged houses in dozens of towns and villages.

The Tabasco state capital, Villahermosa, was so gravely flooded that its streets became canals.

But the deadliest damage was in Teziutlan, where rain fell for 60 hours without a break -- and total precipitation equaled 30 inches.

By Monday, at least 69 bodies had been pulled from the muck at the worst of the mudslides in the La Aurora neighborhood. Dozens of desperate residents converged on City Hall, demanding something be done about their damaged or imperiled houses.

On a visit to the city Monday, President Ernesto Zedillo announced a program to rebuild or repair houses destroyed by the disaster. Under the plan, low-income families who lost their homes were to receive land, $2,000 worth of construction material and 88 days' worth of wages. Those whose houses were damaged were to receive $200 to $600 worth of material, while higher-income families were eligible for subsidized credits.

TeziutlanÂ's recently appointed planning director, Jose Luis Olvera, said La Aurora Â– known to be dangerous to residents -- might have been safe with proper drainage and retaining walls. But the neighborhood grew up haphazardly over 40 years and was so established that a factory was being built close to the slide area.

"It has not been possible to halt the construction," he said, puffing wearily on a cigarette. On his wall, a city planning map showed La Aurora and other neighborhoods colored yellow as "precarious housing."

Until last year, there was not even a zoning ordinance in Teziutlan and the municipality of 180,000 people still lacks a building code.

Authorities have already told the remaining residents near the slide area they will have to move.

Â"They are going to pay attention to us. There wil be more political pressure,Â" Olvera said.