Los Ebanos still recovering from 2010 flooding

LOS EBANOS — Juan Lopez and his family scrambled to get their belongings out of the rising water. Coolers and other buoyant objects became little boats to ferry the items from the yard to the stairs up to his house — away from the swelling Rio Grande.

The Lopezes were among the about 300 Los Ebanos residents affected a year ago when an excess of water from Falcon Reservoir flooded the Rio Grande. The water, which came from rainfall brought by Hurricane Alex, nearly reached the Lopez house, which sits about 200 yards from where the river normally flows.

Marcos Garcia, who has lived in Los Ebanos all 74 years of his life, said he has not seen that much flooding since Hurricane Beulah in 1967. In Alex’s wake, Garcia lost his cesspool, which cost him about $300 to rebuild. The water also damaged the property of his brother Juan Garcia, who lives next door.  

Authorities told all Los Ebanos residents to evacuate on July 12, 2010, because the small, unincorporated community south of Sullivan City is surrounded by water on three sides. Had the only road in or out of the community flooded, residents would have been trapped.

“They didn’t give us enough time to evacuate,” Lopez said, describing the chaos of everyone trying to leave at once.

Onlookers and residents who were trying to move blocked traffic, forcing authorities to block nonresidents from entering the town, Lopez recalled.

Still, family and friends — as well as Hidalgo County employees — came together to get everyone out safely, Lopez said. Lopez, 60, his wife, daughter and granddaughter stayed with his son in San Juan. Others from Los Ebanos stayed with family or friends or in hotels.

Lopez and his family did not move back in until about a month later, and it was another month before the water receded from his backyard.

“It looked kind of eerie; it had kind of like a film on it,” Lopez said of the yard. “Everything was gray.”

A year later, Los Ebanos is green again and almost back to normal.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave Hidalgo County residents more than $4.5 million to rebuild after the flooding that followed Hurricane Alex. Los Ebanos residents received $24,109 of that. FEMA also gave Hidalgo County about $2.3 million to rebuild infrastructure, remove debris and provide emergency protective measures.

The Los Ebanos Ferry, the only hand-drawn international ferry in the U.S., also needed reconstruction after the flood damaged the federal Customs and Border Protection facility. The damage remains visible on the outside of the building, with a line showing exactly how high the water rose.

The agents now use a portable trailer, which is a “fully functional facility,” CBP spokesman Felix Garza said. His agency plans to construct a new facility in the spring.

The ferry had to close for about six months after the flooding, but reopened in December. Ferry operators still had to pay $2,500 each month to lease the land during that time, said Adrian Herrera, the ferry captain

The six men who pull the ferry had to find other work during those six months. Many went to work on farms in Mexico and the U.S., said Alejos Baldemar, the man in charge of collecting the tolls on the ferry.

The closest alternatives for those who typically use the ferry to travel between Los Ebanos and Diaz Ordaz were the Rio Grande City–Camargo International Bridge and the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission both 20 miles or more away.

Diaz Ordaz resident Lidia Medina, who crosses into the U.S. each week by ferry, said it was inconvenient having to drive to Reynosa to cross.

 About 200 people use the ferry each day on weekends, with slower traffic during the week, Herrera said.

The ferry operators and CBP are taking precautions for future flooding.

The new customs facility will be farther up the hill from the river and higher off the ground, Garza said.

Operators typically close the ferry when the river is high, Herrera said. He explained that the Falcon Dam releases more water at certain times during the year, which is when the ferry closes.

Lopez also has prepared for future flooding. He does not store as much in his backyard, which is at a lower elevation than his house, and he and his family have donated many of their extra belongings.

Having to evacuate “made us realize how much we do have,” he said. “It’s too much.”

Marcos Garcia said there is not much he can do to prepare for a future flood.

“What can we do?” he said. “If the water comes in, it comes in.”

--

Gail Burkhardt covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.