Marcos de la Rosa, climate analyst, offered training to Civil Protection elements.
MAZATLAN.- Did you know that only 55 liters per square meter of rain are enough for Mazatlan to flood?
According to Marcos de la Rosa, renowned analyst and expert in climate matters, our port floods in half an hour and it only takes between 55 and 70 liters per square meter of precipitation for it to happen.
Why? Surely you have realized that in each rainy season it is always the same neighborhoods that are affected and this is due in large part to the location of these settlements, which were built near a body of water or a storm drain.
Although this could well be the answer, there is also the situation of the sanitary drainage, which adds to causing floods and it may sometimes not rain as much, but a flood is reflected along the way.
He indicated that flooding also depends on the basic equation for risk calculations: risk is equal to the sum of vulnerability and danger divided by the population’s response capacity. He answers that it also depends on official bodies and the training that citizens have to deal with such a situation.
“The population depends a lot on us, to be honest it depends a lot. Do not wait for Civil Protection to come for you, if you already know that you live in a risk area, why wait?
This, he said during training that was offered to elements of Civil Protection, Fire Department and Municipal Police. The course aimed to provide them with tools and knowledge to act correctly in the face of natural phenomena such as storms and/or hurricanes.
Differences between tropical storms and hurricanes?
During the talk, the participants learned the difference between a storm and a hurricane, as well as the key pieces to identify each of them.
For example, if a tropical cyclone intensifies, then it acquires the name of a tropical storm, which has winds that can reach speeds between 64 and 117 km/h. In this stage, a name is assigned according to the list that is available. While a hurricane is the last stage of a tropical cyclone, it is called a hurricane. At this time, the phenomenon reaches winds of more than 118 km/h, and depending on the intensity of the wind, it can reach one of five categories, says the expert.
Likewise, it was explained what natural disasters and meteorological phenomena mean, terms that on many occasions, the authorities, the press, and the general public misuse.
A natural disaster is a term that refers to the enormous loss of material and human lives caused by natural events or phenomena, such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and landslides, among others.
For example, Hurricane Olivia which hit the port in 1975 is considered a natural disaster.
But “Pamela and Narda” are considered natural phenomena since one of them was a tropical storm and the other a hurricane, but in their passage, they did not cause human losses or great material losses.
Source: punto.mx
