In San Bernardino mountains, residents hit by devastating mudslide fear more to come
CASA DE LA VEGA, Mexico — After three weeks of torrential rains, the hills above the sleepy town of San Bernardino, Mexico, are like the world’s biggest bowl of mud.
A stream of black water gushed across the streets of a small city of 1,000 people after the area hit by the massive and deadly mudslides in the Sierra Madre mountains. The torrent of mud and rocks that raced down the slopes of the hillside has claimed the lives of 15 people from three families since Friday. Another 22 have been injured.
The families living on the hillside of the town, which was destroyed by the mudslides, are among the hardest hit. Their homes have been reduced to heaps of rubble by landslides that have engulfed many of the town’s buildings.
The destruction has left residents traumatized. Among the hardest hit by the disaster was a woman identified only as Maria, who lives on the edge of the hill. She was speaking with a local reporter about her fear of another devastating slide.
“I can’t say much because I don’t want to be recognized,” she said. “I’m very, very afraid. I can’t imagine any more what they have been through and will go through, but I just need information about what can be done.”
A mudslide that hit a small town outside of San Bernardino, Mexico, has killed 16 and injured at least 22 on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2015.
The town is isolated, cut off from any services and supplies it could need. But that has not stopped some residents from reaching out to the victims of the disaster. The town’s mayor has been on the phone trying to get the people of the hillside to take part in the recovery efforts.
“We have people all over the place to help,” the mayor, Antonio Mejia, said. “They don’t know where to come from. But we have people, and those are the ones who know about it. We just need to bring food and drink because they’re dying of fear every day.”
“People that we’ve been looking for have gone, and they’re scared,” he added. “It’s sad to see what they’re going through. We’re trying to bring assistance to them.”
As Mexicans continue to grapple with