Flooded streets, fallen trees and a long blackout follow heavy rainfall

Rain caused some chaos in the Centro on Tuesday. Photo: Ron Allanach

Mérida, Yucatán — Flooded streets, stranded cars, fallen trees and a prolonged blackout in the Centro resulted from torrential rain accompanied by hail Tuesday afternoon.

The three hours of heavy rain was caused by cold front No. 46 and a trough stationed over the Peninsula, said Aaron Palomo Euán, state director of Civil Protection. Along with the precipitation, winds reached 54 kilometers per hour, or 33.5 miles per hour.

Streets west of and in the center of the city were the most affected. Water accumulated in some streets that could not absorb the downpour, slowing traffic.

On Avenida Jacinto Canek, a Flamboyán tree fell on a vehicle.

Cars were stranded on Calle 76 from 79 to 69, Avenida International, at Col. Juan Pablo II and on Calle 12 and 41 at Mulsay. Three car accidents were reported on Avenida Itzaes.

On the Prolongación de Montejo, a Turibus crew cut a tree’s branches when fallen limbs blocked the street. Just one flight was delayed at the airport.

Several Centro businesses were forced to close when a transformer fell, knocking out power until 10:45 p.m. Lucas de Gálvez reported some minor floods.

Calle 60 was most affected, including the offices of Diario de Yucatán, which operated off its own diesel generator. A reporter complained in a story about the incident that even a light rain triggers a blackout at the newspaper, and the electric utility CFE cannot solve the problem.

Sources: Diario de Yucatán, La Jornada Maya

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