Recovering of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Mexico, After Hurricane Alex (2010): The Role of the Nuevo Leon State Reconstruction Council

Ismael Aguilar-Barajas,Aldo I Ramirez

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2019.00163

Ismael Aguilar-Barajas, Aldo I Ramirez

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00163

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Abstract

The Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA), strategically located in Northeastern Mexico, has a population of over 4.5 million people. The metropolis is the second largest economic center in the country, only after Mexico City, and maintains a key role in the Mexico-US trade corridor. Thus, the issue of urban resilience to extreme weather events is a matter of national security and not only a local concern. In July 2010, Hurricane Alex hit the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). It is estimated that 15 human lives were lost. The hurricane generated severe damages to the metropolis’s infrastructure and economy. In the aftermath of Hurricane Alex, the Nuevo Leon State Reconstruction Council (CERNL, in Spanish) was established, with the participation of government agencies and actors from the local community (universities, non-governmental organizations, and large firms. This paper analyses the role played by the CERNL in the reconstruction of the MMA. In 2013, the CERNL ended its mission. Most basic services and infrastructure were re-established, some of them within a few days and weeks after Alex hit the MMA. The relative good work of the Council, in spite of a fragmented and dysfunctional institutional framework, has to do with a local enabling environment that facilitated its establishment and the carrying out of activities. However, this case study also shows the difficulties associated with the design and implementation of coherent, sound strategies in this governance framework. Furthermore, the metropolis has been losing the policy capabilities built through the Council. This is a very risky current context that could have serious social, economic and environmental damages to Monterrey. The lessons presented in this contribution may be of interest to other cities in Mexico and elsewhere.

Highlights

The theme of building resilience to the occurrence of hurricanes has been gaining a great deal of attention by international organizations, national and local governments, as well as from the academic community
The reconstruction work after Alex was not a local concern only, but of national interest. This is consistent with the longstanding recognition of Monterrey as a major North American trade metropolis and at the heart of what has been referred to as the Tex-Mex trade axis. Another major issue worth highlighting, and which applies to the reconstruction work as a whole, is that the new strategic infrastructure built represented a major improvement in regard to the existing one before Alex; the city is in far much better conditions to face future floods (Sisto and RamírezOrozco, 2015)
The Monterrey Metropolitan Area is one of the economic hubs of Mexico and prone to flash flood hazards, which means the attention to this phenomenon is a matter of national interest

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The theme of building resilience to the occurrence of hurricanes has been gaining a great deal of attention by international organizations, national and local governments, as well as from the academic community. The maintenance of the flood control dam, upstream of the Santa Catarina River, by SADM and the state secretariat of urban development and public works, required rapid access to FONDEN’s funds to repair the connecting road, for which the Federal Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) was responsible This task, was in conflict with the establishment of irregular human settlements on or near risky river bed areas, whose responsibility was shared by the National Water Commission, the Nuevo León sustainable development secretariat, and the metropolitan municipalities. This is consistent with the longstanding recognition of Monterrey as a major North American trade metropolis and at the heart of what has been referred to as the Tex-Mex trade axis Another major issue worth highlighting, and which applies to the reconstruction work as a whole, is that the new strategic infrastructure built represented a major improvement in regard to the existing one before Alex; the city is in far much better conditions to face future floods (Sisto and RamírezOrozco, 2015).

Limitations and Shortcomings

DISCUSSION

Findings

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT