1,500 flee South Side in fear that dam might burst

By Daniel Borunda, Adriana M. Chávez and Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

More than 1,500 residents of the Segundo Barrio and Chihuahuita neighborhoods near Downtown El Paso were evacuated Thursday evening because of fears that a dam in west Juárez could break, sending 6 million gallons of water into neighborhoods.

El Paso Mayor John Cook said he ordered the evacuation as a precaution because a catastrophic break in La Frontera Baja dam in Juárez could send a massive wave of water into the southernmost part of Downtown within three minutes.

"We are talking about a tidal wave hitting Downtown El Paso," Cook said.

El Paso police and other law enforcement officers went door-to-door to get residents, including children and the elderly, and transport them by bus to the Judson F. Williams Convention Center, city officials said. Some walked to the convention center.

The mandatory evacuation sent shocks of fear and confusion into the historic neighborhoods.

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Rains force more Juárez families into shelters
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

The night rains in Juárez drove 300 more families into shelters at dawn Thursday and prompted the closing of several main intersections that were still flooded with water a meter deep, Juárez city officials said.

The evacuated families came from the west side of town.

The total number of people in makeshift shelters inside city gymnasiums wasn't known Thursday, and neither was the number of people who took refuge in churches and community centers.