Following torrential rains in Central Texas that led to 59 counties being declared disaster areas, the effects of swollen rivers are beginning to impact the border region.
Last night, due to the rising waters of the Rio Grande and the giant buoys being swept away at the border crossing between Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, the decision was made to close the border bridges, as nearly 100 giant buoys were expected to be carried by the current.
According to various local media outlets, the bridges were reopened on Friday morning, restoring trade and the flow of people in the area.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Laredo, Texas, Victor Treviño, announced that an emergency declaration had been issued for the city due to the rising waters of the Rio Grande, which could cause flooding and dangerous conditions in the area of the international bridges.
The document issued by Mayor Treviño specified that they remain alert to the buoys concentrated in the Eagle Pass area, and that if they detach they could create highly dangerous conditions and affect the operation of the international bridges.
In the case of the international bridges, there is currently no closure of foreign trade activities, so transport units are maintaining their normal activity, Pedro Lozano, president of the Nuevo Laredo Freight Carriers Association (ATC), confirmed to T21.
“We are on alert regarding the rising levels of the Rio Grande, and after the bridges were closed in Piedras Negras, that’s why we are on alert,” Lozano commented.
Last June, the port of Laredo remained the main point of commercial exchange in the United States , surpassing the Chicago airport and the port of Houston, with a share of 6.8% of the total recorded.
“We are not affected at all. In fact, we face these floods every year due to the rains that occur in the central part of the state, but in Laredo we have different conditions than Piedras Negras,” stated Ricardo Pillado, delegate in Nuevo Laredo of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar).
Pillado recalled that the last time the international bridges were closed due to flooding of the Rio Grande was in 1998 , “but it rose three times the estimated amount for what is happening now.”
Both ATC and Canacar are monitoring the weather situation to report on traffic at the international bridges.
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