The Latest From the Recovery Efforts in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico

The tornado struck Monday morning killing 13 people.

By Rhonda FanningMay 28, 2015 9:36 am

A tornado ripped through a historic border town just across the Rio Grande just after dawn on Monday. Jason Buch, a staff writer with the San Antonio Express-News, joins the Texas Standard to talk about what the scene in Ciudad Acuna.

On what he saw when he arrived:

“It was sort of like, semi-controlled chaos. The whole area was swarming with relief workers and soldiers. But they were also allowing the families back onto the site of their homes. Even homes that were all but destroyed. There was very little left – but there will still people being allowed back in to dig through the rubble and salvage what they could.”

On how people were dealing with the aftermath:

“A lot of people I talked to shrugged and were just happy to be alive. We met some people who were pretty badly injured though, and had already been discharged from the hospital…One couple walked up – their house had been blown away.  They’d gone running out out to take their son to the hospital. It hadn’t even registered, the husband said when he left that his house was gone. He was just trying to get his son to the hospital.”

Listen to the full interview in the player above.