After the evaluation made by the Subdirectorate of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Puerto Vallarta to the conditions that prevailed in the bay after the passage of hurricane ‘Willa’, it was determined that those people who were evacuated could return to their homes and hotels.
Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña, who headed the different preventive tasks carried out in the city, pointed out that a physical inspection of the pier and Malecon was also carried out and confirmed that there was no damage to the structures, so those areas have been reopened.
Accompanied by the general secretary of the City Council, Víctor Bernal Vargas and the deputy director of Civil Protection and Fire, Adrián Bobadilla García, the mayor stressed that there is still an orange alert due to the effects of rising water levels in streams and rivers.
For this reason, they have requested that the Municipal DIF System authorize a temporary shelter, if required, to house those families considered at risk by the floods.
The Municipal Council for Civil Protection will continue to operate until November 30, the date on which the hurricane season officially ends in the Pacific.
The mayor highlighted the great of all the agencies involved, as is the case of the Ministry of National Defense, the Navy of Mexico, the Federal Police, the representation of the Ministry of the Interior, the VIII Sanitary Jurisdiction, State DIF, the State Civil Protection Unit, State Tourism Secretariat, Seapal Vallarta, Drse and the different municipal dependencies.
He also recognized the active participation of the neighborhood associations of the colonies Centro and Emiliano Zapata, the Association of Hotels, Coparmex, Canirac, shopping centers, banking institutions, and the media with timely reports to the population.
Arturo Dávalos pointed out that although sometimes citizens consider actions taken during storm warnings as exaggerated, “they are precisely to prevent, to take care of the integrity of all of us who live here and all who visit us”, he acknowledged the fact that most of the people of Vallarta accept them and understand their objective.
The head of Civil Protection and Municipal Fire, Adrián Bobadilla, said that they evacuated to temporary shelters a total of 587 tourists and more than 62 people who lived in areas of risk (Municipal Presidents, Paso Ancho, Boca de Tomatlan, Las Penas neighborhoods, Benito Juárez and Buenos Aires) for this the Technological Institute and the CECyTEJ No.7 were set up as temporary shelters.
Also, many of the families who evacuated when with family and friends, so not all of them went to the shelters activated by the municipal authorities. The official also noted that other hotels also made some evacuations according to their own contingency plans and the activation of their refuge areas.
Photo by Bryan Godfrey
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