Villahermosa Status Report

My last entry was really more about the experience of helping than about the status of flood victims in Villahermosa. Thanks for letting me vent. It was therapeutic for me and hopefully gave you a taste of one of the challenges of missionary service. But...it didn't tell you much at all about how things are in Villahermosa!

In short, things are improving and that the city is definitely able to function. There are definitely still many parts of the city that are still under water (as much as 2 meters in some places) but on Friday it seemed to be about 1/2 of what it was the previous Sunday and completely gone in
some places that had been under about 1 meter of water before. There are definitely places of refuge and ways to get assistance, but to some degree, it depends on those in need. If they stay on their roofs and refuse to come in to dry land where there are shelters, food services being provided by the military and nonprofit groups, etc., then they suffer more. There are pumper trucks pumping water out of the streets, fumigation efforts to keep down mosquitos and subsequent disease, and evidence of some kind of powder on smaller areas of standing water that I think is supposed to prevent bacterial growth and mosquito infestations. Electrical, phone, television and internet services are all operable in most, if not all, parts of the city. There are still lots of closed roads, which makes traffic horrendous but folks are definitely able to use their cars, and public transportation is active and busy. This report is all based on my own first hand observation, not just hearsay. All in all, it appears that the situation is improving considerably.

There are definitely some things in favor of recovery in Villa that are different from the Gulf areas. Since most homes are built with cement walls, roofs and floors, a good scrubbing with bleach and water is usually enough to get homes habitable again once the waters recede. There's no insulation or sheetrock to pull out, no carpet or laminate flooring to pull up, and no siding to replace. Most folks will have to replace appliances, furniture and personal belongings, so it will definitely take a long time to get their homes totally back to normal. Some folks, though, may have been able to get things elevated enough that they mitigated their losses. Many businesses have been hard-hit, and recovery for them will have a dramatic effect on the economy of the city. Those with equipment and inventory that were damaged will be having to start over completely. We know of an optometrist who lost all the equipment for 4 eye clinics. On the other hand, there are many of the very poor who lived in shanties along the rivers who certainly lost everything. Ironically, they are back in the shanties, living alongside the same river! I don't know if they rebuilt the shanties or if the shanties just weren't washed away or what, but
there are many shanties being occupied along the river banks. So even those folks are at least back in some sort of home.

One of the other things that I think seems different is the attitude of the people of Villahermosa. I'm sure there are others who are not this way, but I've yet to encounter anyone on either trip that wasn't smiling! When describing the situation, their facial expressions become more serious, of course, but they seem to be able to find joy despite the devastation and loss. The joyful Mexican spirit is alive and well in the midst of the disaster.

We have been able to confirm that Ana Janeth Morales and her family are safe. We still do not know anything about Betsy Casola or Karina Gonzales Coronel's family in Tabasco.

What's also true is that the flooding has become a major problem in northern Chiapas as well as in the state of Tabasco. Because we can see that there is so much attention being given to Villahermosa, all future efforts for assistance will likely be directed towards the people in small villages in northern Chiapas. These folks are likely to have been completely ignored by most of the relief agencies and military assistance efforts.

So yes, things are getting better in Villahermosa, but there are still major problems in northern Chiapas. There are still many needs to pray about, pay for and be ready to pitch in to help with in the coming months. Bill Herring and Penny Musson have offered to bring a medical team down, and at least one group has volunteered to come to Villahermosa for clean-up and restoration efforts in early 2008. It would be great if we could get at least one group to come do the same in northern Chiapas! Any way you can help would be most appreciated.