My hometown is a Hurricane Alex victim.

On July 1, 2010 Hurricane Alex paid a visit to Monterrey. While I was in Austin on a pre-production I was listening to the radio and then it stopped...electricity was down. I tried to call my dad but he didn't answer. Hurricane Alex had entered the city of Monterrey, in the beautiful state of Nuevo Leon. At 9pm, my dad finally answered and said that water had gone inside the house, that he and my brother were cleaning up and that it didn't seem to end. I was online the whole night...I read about how water claimed what it was the Santa Catarina River and it couldn't stop...the main streets in Monterrey broke down, lanes were cleared by water and people got into the second floor of their homes because their first floor was flooded.

July 2, 2010. The morning after, the news kept telling all these horrible stories and I saw pictures of how the city broke down. We decided to go back to the city. At 2.00 am I was lost. The highway to enter the city was destroyed, the headlights didn't work and the roads that the GPS gave me as an alternative no longer existed. Horror invaded me. Sadness began. I entered my parent's home at 3.30 am.



On July 3, 2010 I began taking trips to visit the damage that Alex had done. I visited friends and family and others who I didn't know and they all shared what they felt when they saw the day that nature claimed back its territory. They were afraid of dying but, still ready to encounter the reconstruction of a new Nuevo León.

I came back on July 7, 2010 to Austin. I must say and admit that I cried because a part of me wanted to stay there and help. I wanted to contribute with my bare hands and see what else to do. But, at 6.00pm Rio Bravo (border river between Mexico and US) closed its doors. There is a great risk that it floods too. These two videos that I'm posting are my experience of what I saw. Nuevo Leon needs help, they need a lot of help; they need hands to give them support and groceries. They need water. They need clorox, and materials to get their houses disinfected.

I am now in Austin, trying to let everyone know the tragedy that my fellow friends and neighbors are going through. Media in the US neither worldwide have talked about it. Yes, we were lucky that there weren't too many deaths, still, the city is of need of help. A lot of it. Let your friends know about it, read about it and help. Every little action counts.



It's a disaster zone...so, local authorities won't help. Water reached 6 feet high of houses. Everything was lost.



To be able to go across the street, we had to jump in mattresses, move clothes and step on a 2 feet high mud.

TO DONATE:
http://todosxnl.org/centrosacopio
National:
Banorte: Cuenta No. 19 “Para apoyo a los afectados por la tormenta Alex”
Banorte: Cuenta 0000000065, a nombre de la Cruz Roja.
Banorte: Cuenta No. 50 de Caritas de Monterrey, ABP
International:
Clave Swift: MANOMXMT, Banco Mercantil del Norte, S.A., Monterrey, México, ABA: 021000018