Flooding from last Friday night’s storm impacted more than 200 homes in 20 fraccionamientos, or subdivisions, in the municipality of Tlajomulco.
Hundreds of residents were forced to abandon their properties when floodwaters rose to dangerous levels.
The floodwaters began to subside Monday when residents started the thankless task of cleaning their homes and gardens from the mud, sewage and refuse left behind.
More than 200 public servants, including Mayor Alberto Uribe, rolled up their sleeves to help out neighbors, as additional pumping equipment was brought in from neighboring municipalities.
The water has been slow to recede because waterways and reservoirs are filled to the maximum, Uribe noted.
State health authorities said teams will be sent into neighborhoods as soon as the clean up has finished to safeguard against potential health risks, such as dengue or zika, and administer vaccines where necessary.
Uribe lamented the lack of hydraulic infrastructure in the municipality and urged the National Water Commission to intervene and speed up work on the “Colector de El Zapote,” a major drainage system that he said would alleviate much of the flooding.
Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval said the situation in Tlajomulco has been exacerbated by the lack of planning involved in the construction of new subdivisions over the past decade.
A center for donations for victims of the flood has been set up at Zaragoza 80, San Agustín, Tlajomulco.
The worst affected neighborhoods are Villas de la Hacienda, Jardines del Edén, Valle Dorado, Hacienda Eucaliptos, Paseos de la Hacienda, Concepción del Valle, San José del Valle, Santa Cruz del Valle, Unión del Cuatro and San Sebastián El Grande.
According to the Universidad de Guadalajara’s Astronomy and Meteorology Institute, the 72 millimeters of rainwater recorded on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, was higher than the record total for the entire month of October.