Rescuers unearth 1 in slide that left 68 missing as Mexico storm toll rises

Saturday, September 21, 2013, 8:20 PM -

Rescuers fighting tons of slippery, wet mud at the site of this week's worst storm disaster unearthed a woman's body Saturday, possibly one of 68 missing in a massive landslide that buried half of the remote coffee-growing town of La Pintada. 

Houses were filled to their roofs with dirt and vehicles were tossed on their sides when the hillside collapsed Monday afternoon after several days of rain brought by Tropical Storm Manuel, which along with Hurricane Ingrid gave Mexico a one-two punch last weekend. 

"There is little hope now that we can find anyone alive,'' said President Enrique Pena Nieto after touring the devastation, adding that the landslide covered at least 40 homes. 

Pena Nieto told the townspeople that La Pintada would be relocated and rebuilt nearby in a better location as officials responded to a wave of criticism that negligence and corruption were to blame for the vast devastation caused by two relatively weak storm systems. 

Authorities on Saturday also found the wreckage of a Federal Police helicopter that was working on the rescue when it went missing Thursday. All aboard died, though officials still could not confirm late in the day how many were aboard.

A chilling before and after view of a residents backyard in Acapulco, Mexico

All week in Mexico City, editorials and public commentary said the government had made natural disasters worse because of poor planning, lack of a prevention strategy and corruption. 

"Governments aren't responsible for the occurrence of severe weather, but they are for the prevention of the effects,'' wrote Mexico's non-profit Center of Investigation for Development in an online editorial criticizing a federal program to improve infrastructure and relocate communities out of dangerous flood zones. "The National Water Program had good intentions but its execution was at best poor.'' 

Ingrid and Manuel simultaneously pounded both of Mexico's coasts, killing at least 101 people, not including the helicopter crash victims or the 68 missing. Interior Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong told Mexican media that the death toll could go as high as 200 in the coming days, nearing that of Hurricane Paulina, which hit Guerrero state in 1997 and caused one of Mexico's worst storm disasters. 

The Mexican government late Friday gave a list of damages from Ingrid and Manuel, which later gained hurricane force and rolled into the northern state of Sinaloa on Thursday morning. 

The storms affected 24 of Mexico's 31 states and 371 municipalities, which are the equivalent of counties. More than 58,000 people were evacuated, with 43,000 taken to shelters. Nearly 1,000 donation centres have been set up around the country, with nearly 700 tons of aid arriving so far. 

Nearly 800,000 people lost power across the country, though the Federal Electricity Commission said 94 per cent of service had been restored as of Saturday morning. 

Seventy-two key highways were damaged, including main arteries that left Acapulco isolated for days, as thousands of tourists awaited airlifts out of the inundated resort city. 

The investigations centre, known as CIDAC for its initials in Spanish, said Mexico had not been hit by two simultaneous storms since 1958. 

With files from The Associated Press