MORE than 3000 people have taken refuge at temporary shelters in Sinaloa after floods ravaged the Mexican state on the Gulf of California. The Mexican Interior Ministry said on Saturday (local time) that 29 shelters have been set up in Sinaloa, and that electricity has been restored to nearly all the 59,328 users who lost power after a tropical storm moved in on Thursday. The storm dumped as much as 36 centimetres of rain in just 24 hours. Video on social media showed flood waters rushing into retail establishments and carrying vehicles off in swift currents. Alarmantes imágenes de las inundaciones provocadas por la depresión tropical 19-E en Los Mochis, Culiacán y otras ciudades del noreste del país. #FuerzaSinaloa https://t.co/bWg9SAQkRV pic.twitter.com/hx7h6z3rSK — Javier Alatorre (@Javier_Alatorre) September 20, 2018 Sinaloa state Attorney-General Juan Jose Rios Estavillo has confirmed that one person drowned while two more were killed by electrocution. Three women have been reported missing in the state capital of Culiacan after presumably being swept away.<doc-sep>At least seven people have died due to flooding caused by torrential rain in the states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, authorities reported. Sinaloa Civil Protection chief Juan Francisco Vega Meza said that at least four people had died in that state following heavy rains brought on by tropical depression 19-E. Three deaths occurred in the state capital Culiacán, where three people are missing. Another person died in the municipality of Ahome, where as much as 359 millimeters of rain have fallen over the past 24 hours. Streets of the municipal seat of Los Mochis were inundated and access to parts of the neighboring municipality of El Fuerte have been cut off. “It has been a complex situation because we were presented with an atypical phenomenon; we hadn’t received a quantity of rain like this before. In just one day, [the rain that fell in] Los Mochis represented 40% of the rain it has received in the whole year and in Culiacán, it was 30%,” Sinaloa Governor Quirino Ordaz said in a television interview. Three deaths occurred in two municipalities in Chihuahua. “A man and a woman drowned after being dragged by the current of a stream, located 500 meters from the Plata Real mine on the San José del Sitio ejido [community land] in the municipality of Satevó,” the state Attorney General’s office said. The victims were identified as Tomás Castro Vargas, 51, and Carolina Blancas Luviano, 45, both residents of Tlapehuala in the state of Guerrero. Their bodies were recovered by a rescue team made up of mine employees. In Namiquipa, authorities recovered the body of a man who tried to cross a swollen stream in his vehicle. The 45-year-old man, identified only as Wilbert E., was a resident of the neighboring municipality of Matachí. In Ciudad Juárez, a woman and her eight-year-old daughter had to be rescued after they ran into trouble trying to cross a flooded overpass while dozens of families in the municipality of Chínipas were forced to evacuate their homes due to flooding. At least 13 municipalities in Sonora, including Guaymas, Hermosillo and Huatambampo, have also been affected by heavy rains. Federal Civil Protection director Ricardo de la Cruz Musalem said this morning that 11 Sinaloa municipalities remain in a state of emergency while the number of people affected by the heavy rains and flooding is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. The army, navy, municipal, state and federal police forces, firefighters, the Red Cross and Civil Protection services are all contributing to rescue and evacuation efforts. Shelters have been set up in several areas to receive those forced to leave their homes and many educational facilities in the affected states have suspended classes. The Red Cross is sending 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Sinaloa today. Sinkholes have appeared on many roads and a bridge on Federal Highway 15 between Los Mochis and El Carrizo has been damaged. The same highway was also closed in both directions yesterday at San Miguel Zapotitlán after a drainage system collapsed. The National Meteorological Service (SMN) is forecasting more heavy rains for both Sinaloa and Chihuahua today and intermittent heavy showers in Sonora. Así las cosas en Culiacán, Sinaloa, en estos momentos, parece que en el Norte del estado están peor según reportan. pic.twitter.com/LguTxE42co — Manuel Clouthier C. (@ClouthierManuel) September 20, 2018 Flooding yesterday in Culiacán. Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)<doc-sep>Staff report San Angelo Standard-Times Heavy rainfall in Sonora flooded parts of town and temporarily closed Interstate 10. The Bank & Trust in Sonora has launched a relief fund to help those impacted, according to a post on the bank's Facebook page. "Donating today will help those in our Sonora Strong community with basic needs and humanitarian aid," the post states. The San Angelo Area Foundation has also set up a fund to help Sonora residents. More information on how to donate can be found at www.saafound.org/sonora-flood-relief-fund. Several people throughout Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 shared videos of the flooding, which overtook roadways and flowed into some homes and businesses. Interstate 10 was closed for several hours, stranding motorists on the edges of town or seeking shelter in gas station parking lots. A 50 percent chance of rain continues overnight Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Saturday will bring a 30 percent chance of rain and Sunday has a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, NWS meteorologists predict.<doc-sep>
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Federal officials declared emergencies in three northern states Friday as heavy rains from a tropical depression caused flooding that killed at least three people. The Interior Department initially declared a state of emergency for 11 municipalities in Sinaloa state, where the deaths were reported. Later in the day, it extended the declaration to 11 municipalities in Sonora state, which borders the U.S. state of Arizona, and two in Durango states. Government officials issued a warning Friday night urging people to stay alert. It also warned that intense storms were possible in the states of Jalisco, Michoacan and Guerrero farther south and said the northern states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas could see strong storms. The tropical depression moved into the area early Thursday and dumped as much as 14 inches (35.9 centimeters) of rain in just 24 hours, overflowing storm drains. Images in local and social media showed streets in Sinaloa turned into raging rivers, swamping cars. The newspaper El Universal posted video of an SUV being swept along in Guamuchil as passengers scrambled to get onto its roof. Soldiers deployed in heavy trucks to pick up stranded residents and carry them to safety. The Sinaloa state government said more than 2,000 people had evacuated and 13 shelters were set up. In a statement early Friday, Sinaloa state Attorney General Juan Jose Rios Estavillo said one person drowned and two were killed by electrocution. Three women were missing in Culiacan, the state capital, after presumably being swept away.