Mexico prepares for hurricane season

Regarding civil protection, we do not have to be fearing the onslaught of nature, yet we must be cautious: EPN

• The Mexican State is constantly being put to the test and the task never ends, for there will always be another hurricane, a volcano with an activity rebound, or a latent earthquake, he said.
• Together with both state and municipal governments, we will continue to promote timely prevention measurements that help to protect the integrity of families and their properties, he emphasized.
• We cannot avoid the presence of natural phenomenon, but what we can do is minimize the damages to the patrimony of families and to the country’s economic and social infrastructure”, he stated.
• He underlined the necessity to build a more resilient society in the face of natural disasters.
• He conducted the event of the beginning of the rainy tropical cyclones season 2017. The weather forecast for this year indicates that 27 tropical cyclones could be formed, out of which eight would become category 3 or greater.

The President of the Republic, Enrique Peña Nieto, affirmed today that regarding civil protection “the Mexican State is constantly being put to the test and the task is never concluded, because there will always be another hurricane, a volcano with an activity rebound, or a latent earthquake”.

Therefore, he said, “in coordination with the state and municipal governments we will continue to promote timely prevention measures that help to safeguard the integrity of the families and their heritage”.

“The message is clear: we do not have to live captive in face of the onslaught of nature, but we also cannot stop being cautious”, he said.

In the event of the beginning of the rainy and tropical cyclones season 2017, in which it was announced that the weather forecast for this year indicates that 27 tropical cyclones could be formed, of which eight would become category 3 or greater, the Head of State emphasized concrete actions have been implemented to reduce the response time to damages to strategic facilities and basic services in the communities.

For example, he said, “through the Plan MX, we are coordinating, for the first time, a single response channel for all federal agencies in the face of a disaster. We have also updated and improved the National Risk Atlas, and we have a solid National Alert System.

Furthermore, he continued, “we strengthen the Mexican Seismic Network to generate measurements, knowledge and to improve construction rules of procedure and early alert systems. On the other hand, the DN3-E Plan—that in 2016 reached 50 years of implementation—and the Plan Marina, coordinate the relief activities on behalf of our Armed Forces, to provide aid to the population affected by disasters.

The Head of State pointed out that building on all of that and looking forward, “we shall build a more resilient society in the face of natural disasters”. He explained that that means “having a more substantial capacity to endure, resist, overcome, and build the necessary infrastructure to face the increasingly harsh onslaughts of nature”, and to increase our response capacity in light of a disaster.

“We cannot avoid the presence of natural phenomenon, but what we can do is minimize the damages to the patrimony of families and to the country’s economic and social infrastructure”, he stated.

President Peña Nieto expressed his recognition and appreciation to the Armed Forces, “because it is not a minor task, what you do; we see soldiers, pilots and marines in every onslaught of nature and in other times, invariably willing and determined, no matter the inclement weather, or the local conditions”.

He also acknowledged all the members of the National System of Civil Protection, who “sometimes quietly and anonymously articulate the institutional efforts and conduct the protocols that allow us to prevent, alert and attend the contingencies facing the force of nature”.

In the same manner, “to the civil society organizations, particularly to the Red Cross; the private sector, the business organizations, because they collaborate, they don’t conduct isolated efforts”.

He recognized the media “because they have been allies and have performed a central role in the National System of Civil Protection, especially to inform and prevent the society about the potential risks in the face of the different events we have endured”.

The Head of State expressed his very especial acknowledgement to Luis Felipe Puente Espinosa, National Coordinator of Civil Protection, who “has demonstrated that he is devoted to this undertaking, and the President has faith in the good results of the National System of Civil Protection”.

Prevention will remain as our backbone, and life and the integrity of every mexican will continue as : CONAGUA

Roberto Ramírez de la Parra, General Director of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), assured that in this Season of Tropical Rains and Cyclones 2017, under the leadership of President Peña Nieto, “prevention will remain as our backbone, and life and the integrity of every Mexican will continue as our priority”.

He pointed that upon instructions of the President, CONAGUA works on actions towards “having a Mexico that is more preventive that reactive”. He said that “Mexicans know that we cannot avoid meteorological phenomena, but without a doubt, we can be a lot more preventive to face their effects”.

Ramírez de la Parra stressed that, due to the new policy of water administration, there is a surplus of 8,594 millions of cubic meters in the management of water dams. Therefor, “we have enough water to provide public-urban supply for two full years, 2017 and 2018, besides guarantying two agricultural cycles, the current one and 2018”.

The head of CONAGUA informed that the forecast of tropical cyclones for 2017 consists on 27 tropical cyclones, one less that the historic average, and between three or five of them are expected to hit national territory directly. He added that there is a 50% forecast that a phenomenon like El Niño will be repeated this fall. “If this were to happen, it could raise the intensity of cyclones”.

He affirmed that “the challenges that test our country can only be faced in unity”, so that the CONAGUA works continuously and coordinated with the National Coordination of Civil Protection to have more timely information in the decision making process.

FACING CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FORCE OF NATURE, THERE IS NO BETTER RESPONSE THAN PREVENTION AND CORRESPONDENCE: LUIS FELIPE PUENTE

Luis Felipe Puente Espinosa, National Coordinator of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Interior, stressed that in Mexico “all civil society, the entire private sector, all the Chambers, as well as the Mexican Red Cross contribute and cooperate at all times to protect the Mexicans”.

He said that “in the area of civil protection, we work in a coordinated way, adding the efforts of institutions, orders of government, society and private sector”. “So we will do it again facing the rainy and tropical cyclones season that is about to begin”, he said. “Facing the climate change and the force of nature, there are no better response than the prevention and correspondence”, he emphasized.

He specified that the measures to face this rainy and tropical cyclones season have been strengthen. “From prevention to effective and timely response capabilities; from comprehensive risk management to rapid restoration of vital services and reconstruction, we always seek to protect the lives of Mexicans, minimize human and material losses in the face of these contingencies.

Puente Espinosa instructed all the heads of civil protection “so that from today on we activate, as we have been doing all these years, all the preventive protocols. In accordance with your instruction, Mr. President, we will continue to promote the coordinated work in favor of a comprehensive risk management to continue strengthening our National System as a fundamental institution for the lives of Mexicans”.

With work and joint commitment, an integral agenda for civil protection and risk reduction can be built: Quintana Roo Governor.

There is certainty that, with work and joint commitment, an integral agenda on civil protection and risk reduction can be built, said the Quintana Roo Governor, Carlos Manuel Joaquín González; while emphasizing that Mexico prioritizes prevention, joint work and the implementation of best practices that guarantee the well-being of the population and our visitors.

He expressed his will to build consensus in favor of civil protection between the authorities of the three levels of government, the private sector and society in general. He affirmed: “let us work together to fulfill the objective of safeguarding our population, and prevent losses”.

It is necessary, he affirmed, that the members of the state and municipal systems of Civil Protection have access to timely information of natural phenomena; “in order to coordinate actions that bring us closer to being a better prepared society to face the challenges of nature”.