Don't go wading in Wio Wico!

The weather in Rio Rico this weekend was wonderful. There was rain-- of course--we're in the middle of the Arizona monsoons. There were wonderful clouds, rainbows, and water--but not too much water.
Unfortunately the same could not be said for Nogales, Arizona/Nogales, Sonora just 10 short miles to the south. The rain in Nogales came down a little harder than it did here on our hilltop. It came down so hard that the Calle Elias just south of the fence ( a road that was once upon a time an extension of Morley Street, main business district for downtown Nogales) collapsed into the sewer tunnel. That tunnel runs right into the USA where all that sewage is processed before it ends up in the Rio Rico River. I happened to cross the line today. The first sign of trouble was the gate and lock blocking the local pedestrian crossing. To reach the main port of entry/exit? I had to take an elevator up to the second floor and walk acrosss an elevated walkway where I looked right down into Mexico. It looked like the street had exploded. Bulldozers were busy removing the asphalt so that the sewer line could be accessed completely. To quote the Nogales International newspaper:
"Near the close of business and in the wake of Saturday’s rains, shopkeepers along the first two blocks of Morley Avenue were barraged by runoff. The water gushed from across the line through the pedestrian port of entry where border walls acted as a dam.According to Mexican media reports and local store owners, the border walls held back storm runoff that burst through the concrete and asphalt ceiling of the wash tunnel on Calle Elias, just 60 feet south of the pedestrian port of entry.Up to five feet of water pooled on the Mexican side of the border where several vehicles that were parked in the area floated and converged at the base of a nearby hill. “It looked like a bomb fell,” said one observer."

Several vehicles were actually 35 cars! And they are still there since the street is impassable and was filled with --you know what! My favorite jewelry store is on Calle Elias. JC Penney's, Arizona was flooded as were several local stores.

I really wish I had taken my camera with me. But you'll have to be satisfied with pictures of beautiful Rio Rico. Chao for now.