Last year a waterspout and landslide affected the area, causing considerable damage to some of the establishments
Path of the channeled creek at Piedra Barrenada. Photo: Héctor Ruiz.
Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- Restaurant owners of the tourist-gastronomic zone of Piedra Barrenada, in San Juan Cosalá, demanded the authorities of Jocotepec take precautions in the creek near the area.
Although authorities assured that work had already been carried out to channel the creek to two outlets, one of the streams passes by the Las Gaviotas restaurant. This has caused the owners to “feel concerned.”
The owner of one of the most affected restaurants, who asked for anonymity, pointed out that after the October 5 downpour, he registered losses of more than 280 thousand pesos (approx. $14,200 US) due to the damage caused by the landslide, «it has been a poorly executed intervention,» he commented.
The restaurateur explained that the depth of the channel is barely over one meter in height so as soon as the rains begin, this section is prone to overflowing due to its shallowness.
«I even sent up a drone to capture what happened in the last storm. Due to the amount of water that fell, the channel became like a lagoon, when it could not hold any more water, all those liters and liters of water flowed out,» he said.
Other businessmen consulted also said they were worried about this coming rainy season. They fear a repetition of last October’s situation, where they not only lost real estate, but one of the restaurateurs was almost swept away by the waterspout.
«Everything, everything was filled with mud and stones. The bar was filled to the top, the kitchen the same. I had to smash the main door so that all the debris would flow out and, in the attempt, I was dragged by the current. Civil Protection had to throw me a rope so that it would not wash me into the lake,” he explained.
For these reasons, they urged the Jocotepec City Hall to act on the matter and conduct the appropriate reports on the stream to rule out another possible landslide, while there is still time before the storms begin.
Translated by Nita Rudy
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