(Note: There are some 8500 Indigenous People in this area that need help & prayer. There names are listed attached to this email & at the bottom of the page. Dave)
By the CNN Wire StaffSeptember 28, 2010 2:51 p.m. EDT
For more on this story, go to CNN Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- Up to 1,000 people may have been trapped by a landslide in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, Gov. Ulises Ruiz said Tuesday.
A hill about 650 feet wide (200 meters) collapsed early Tuesday, sending tons of mud over houses in the Santa Maria Tlahuiltotepec municipality, Ruiz said.
"We're talking about some 300 homes affected," Ruiz said. "We don't have the exact number of those affected. But the death toll could reach as many as 500 or 600, even 1,000."
As of Tuesday afternoon, seven bodies had been recovered and 100 people were confirmed missing, civil protection official Luis Marin Castillejos told CNN en Español. The number could increase, he said.
Residents have been evacuated from nearby areas and moved to shelters, but "The danger for the rescuers is imminent," he said.
"We're already rounding up the necessary equipment, and moving it towards the affected area," Ruiz said in an interview on CNN affiliate Televisa.
"We are also moving members of the military, the state police, ambulances, health workers, and all rescue teams available. They're all trying to get there. But, we haven't been able to reach the area, yet. ... We expect to get there in time to rescue these people," he said.
Ruiz said several rivers overflowed their banks due to heavy rain in the area and many roads are blocked by landslides, making it difficult for rescuers to reach the affected areas.
Some residents were complaining Tuesday morning that help was slow in coming.
"Police and rescue officials still have not arrived at the landslide zone and there are many landslides on the road," the Oaxaca Red Cross reported on its Twitter account Tuesday morning.
The region has been plagued by extremely heavy rainfall over the past two weeks, most recently by the remnants of Tropical Storm Matthew, which were still stalled over the area Tuesday, according to CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller.
Satellite data indicates that nearly 12 inches (300 mm) of rain has fallen in the area of the landslide in the past three days, Miller said.
Many houses are built on the edge of ridges on the steep terrain in the state, which stands about 2,400 feet above sea level, making it conducive to landslides in severe weather.
More rain is forecast in the region in the next day and a half, Miller said.
The severe weather led civil protection authorities to declare a state of emergency Monday for the Oaxaca state municipalities of Oaxaca de Juarez, San Felipe Tejalapam, San Jacinto Amilpas, San Lorenzo Cacaotepec, San Pablo Etla, Santa Lucia del Camino and Tlalixtac de Cabrera. A municipality in Mexico is a geographic division within a state, similar to a county in the United States.
The Santa Maria Tlahuiltotepec municipality is a remote area with about 8,500 residents, located about 182 miles (295 kilometers) from the state capital, Ciudad de Oaxaca.
Residents in Tlahuiltotepec are indigenous -- nearly 99 percent of them speak an indigenous language and about 66 percent also speak Spanish, according to information provided by a local educational institution, the Bachillerato Integral Comunitario Ayuujk Polivalente.
Statistics provided by the institution show a relatively poor area where 43 percent of homes didn't have electricity 10 years ago and 17 percent had no indoor plumbing.
Nearly 40 percent of the municipality's residents were illiterate and only about 10 percent graduated from high school, the institute said.
The statistics came from the year 2000 and show an increasingly higher quality of life compared with 1990.
"Housing construction has evolved considerably," the institute said in a report. "Walls that used to be built with sticks, mud and adobe have been substituted by concrete, which is a mix of sand, lime and cement."
Likewise, the report said, roofing that used to consists of leaves, limbs, and other vegetation has been replaced with aluminum or even concrete tiles.
Most residents are involved in low-level farming, raising livestock and commerce.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Mudslide on Tuesday 09-28-10
Location: Santa Maria Tihauiltotepec , Mexico (about 8,500 indigenous peoples live there)
A little background into a few of the names of the groups of Indigenous Peoples.
Zapotec- “be’ena’a” means “The People.” Be’enaAz’a “~Nushabi” means “Cloud People.” They live in the central valley Zapotecs. They shared cultural ties with the ancient Olmec and the Mayan. The Aztecs tired to conquer both the Zapotec and the Mixtecs.
Mixtecs - "~Nuu Savi" means the "People of the Rain".
Amuzgos - "Tzjon Non" means "People of the Textiles",
Chatinos - "Kitse cha'tnio" means "Work ofthe Words",
Chinantecos- "Dsajmii" means "Plains People". Their language, "Fahjmii" means "Plains Language".
Chocho - "Runixa Ngiigua"means "Those who Speak the Language". They are also known as Chochoones and Chocholtecas.
Chontales - "Slijuala xanuc" means "Inhabitants of the Mountains", Chontao is the name of (2) distinct languages: A) Chontal Tobasco - a member ofthe Mayan language family.
B) Chontaloaxaca- a member of the Hokan language family,which is represented in S.W. U.S.A. & Baja, Calf.
Cuicateco
Huave-"Mero ikoooc" means "The True Us" .
Ixcatecos
Mazatecos- "Hashuta emma" means "People of Custom".
Mixes- "Ayuuk" means "The People".
Popoloco- "Homshuk" means "God of Com".
Tacuates- "Tiacoatl" ("tlal "means land & "coal" means Snake) so "Land of the Snake".
Trique- they live on 193 square miles in Southern Sierra Mad re mountains.
Zoque- "Aiyuuk" means People of the Language" "O'deput". The main nucleus of the Zoque is in Chiapas.
Benito Jua~rez- born on 3/21/1806, in San Pablo Guelato to Zapotec parents: Marcelino Jurez & Brigida Garcia, was a lawyer, governor of Oaxaca, first & only President of Mexico that was an indigenous person. He never surrendered to European occupiers. He united a nation that was at war with itself.
--
When evil people call you evil, you know that you are a good person.
When lairs call you a liar, you know that you are truthful.
Know who you are and don't let others tell you who you are." - Dave Kitchen
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