The official censuses are a mess and the tons of garbage only accumulate in the streets, which already generates a source of infection.
Adding to the problem is the installation of checkpoints by authorities to prevent citizens arriving from outside from distributing groceries or aid on their own.
“The people save the people,” summarized Irene, a resident who returned from Mexico City to help her family.
“Since last Friday it was chaos. The local authorities have not been present. Municipal President Fernando Remes has not attended to the emergency. We are doing everything among ourselves,” Irene told Grupo REFORMA.
He indicated that this Monday he visited the Floresta, Lázaro Cárdenas, 27 de Septiembre and Las Granjas neighborhoods, one of the most affected by the floods that hit Poza Rica last Friday.
“In many of them the water is still stagnant and the mud reaches almost up to the knee. There is no light, nor safe passage. The smell is unbearable. The streets are rotted by water and dead animals,” he described.
Although some young people with cherry vests mark homes with markers, official aid is disorganized.
“They claim to come from President (Claudia) Sheinbaum, but they have no control. In Floresta, the census forms have run out. They go house to house, without knowing if the people are still there. They do not inform when they will return,” he reproached.
The confusion, he accused, is worsening because the Navy and the Army have barely entered certain areas, while neighbors organize to clean streets and make way with their own tools.
“I have seen three or four backhoes, but they seem to be from private individuals. My mother says that the Government ones are barely going to arrive. They don’t let people with groceries pass. I guess the municipality wants to distribute them on their own, to get the medal,” he said.
Angélica, a resident of Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas, one of the most affected in Poza Rica, accused that the drama of the houses full of mud and the loss of all her belongings is compounded by the withholding of aid.
“My sister arrived yesterday and saw that people who bring groceries or water are being detained. Trucks came from Monterrey and they did not let them pass. They say that the Governor (the Morenista Rocío Nahle) gave the order not to allow the entry of these supports,” he said.
He explained that some vehicles with food supplies from other states manage to bypass the filters and go directly to the neighborhoods to distribute.
“They tell the others to deliver to collection centers, but those things do not reach the affected areas,” said the woman.