CHALCO, Mexico (news agencies) — As 56-year-old Juana Salazar Segundo walked through her home in Chalco, a low-income suburb southeast of Mexico City, she recalled how black, reeking water had reached up to her belly button after flooding early last month.
With the receding liquid now down to her ankles, Salazar waddled into her furniture-less bedroom, where only a water pump hummed in the corner. Large black blotches stained the once white walls.
Sewage-infused floodwaters have invaded streets, homes and businesses in Salazar’s Culturas neighborhood of Chalco for over a month.
The low-lying area at the edge of what was once an ancient lake has long been plagued by seasonal flooding, but residents say this year has been worse, a combination of unchecked growth and failing infrastructure.
According to Chalco’s government, more than 2,000 homes and over 7,000 residents have been affected. The water was as deep as 5 feet (160 centimeters) in some areas.
Over the past several weeks, Salazar has used four pumps running around the clock to clear water from her home. Her hands and legs are stained with black and gray streaks from coming into contact with the tainted floodwaters.
“Day and night we couldn’t sleep, the water just rose and rose,” she said.
“I’ve been saying for years that the drain systems have collapsed,” said Salazar. “I haven’t been able to work because I have to take care of my things, my daughter hasn’t been able to take her son to school … we’re just surviving.”
Omar Arellano-Aguilar, a biologist and expert in environmental toxicology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the combination of drainage failures and the geological structure of the area makes it more vulnerable to floods.
“All of these urban areas have grown haphazardly over the last 50 years,” he said.
A city of more than 400,000, since the late 1980s Chalco has grown to become one of the largest cities in the State of Mexico, but it still lacks basic water and power infrastructure.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has downplayed the crisis in Chalco and said he wouldn’t pay the disaster zone a visit.
“It’s being taken care of,” he said during one of his daily press briefings last month. “It’s the same reason I didn’t go to Acapulco,” referring to the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Otis that killed at least 48 people. “It’s like vulture season,” he said regarding the press asking him about it.
State Gov. Delfina Gómez has visited the neighborhood a handful of times. The governor and Chalco’s government did not respond to requests for interviews from media.
Local, state and federal officials have been working in the area, using massive pumps to lower the water, vaccinating residents and providing potable water.
Outside of Salazar’s home, the sun pounded on the neighborhood as the acidic stench of the sewage water and silt stretched for miles.
A block away, Oscar Martínez Hinojosa, 49, adjusted the hose for one of his water pumps.
Martínez said that when the flooding started they weren’t given any boots or protective clothing by the government. “They didn’t give us anything, no food, not a single pair of overalls … and we asked for them,” he said.
Martínez lives with his five family members crowded into a top floor room where there is no damage. Downstairs, the courtyard and other bedrooms are swamped with ankle-deep water.
Another resident, Guadalupe Sarai Islas García, 32, said health problems have abounded from the sewage water. Her baby was throwing up and experiencing diarrhea for over a week when the flooding persisted.
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