Early Monday heavy rains caused damage to some 200 houses in three neighborhoods in the far west of Zapopan. The collapse of one home caused the death of a 36-year old mother of four, who, was swept along for blocks. Neighbors were able to pluck the children — aged 9-15 —from the roof of the home. She is the sixth victim so far of the 2012 rainy season according to state civil protection authorities.
More than 20 vehicles were destroyed when heavy rains dumped mud and debris from hills in the Primavera Forest, destroying and pouring over the Arroyo Seco canal into the neighborhoods. Ten people were treated for injuries. Two shelters were opened by the DIF to house those whose homes are uninhabitable. Eight homes had structural damage and many residents had all their belongings destroyed by the flooding that reached as much as a meter-and-a-half high in some homes. Some 400 city and state workers cleaned up the streets and homes in the aftermath. Surveying the damage, Zapopan Mayor Hector Vielma said Monday that many of the homes were irregularly built along the canal, but that home construction in the area began some 25 years ago. Neighbors said the city and SIAPA had not performed maintenance on street drains this year in the afected areas this year.
Vielma offered to help the affected families as soon as the funds could be arranged. Sixty million pesos is the preliminary estimate.