San Vicente and Mechanics Rescue Efforts

By jeff

On Friday morning, we heard that the group of mechanics that come every year from Virginia to work on the Baja Missions vans were trapped in San Vicente.  Part of the bridge that linked San Vicente to the rest of the world had washed away and they were without money, medicine, food, etc.  So we loaded up into a van and drove down to see if we could get them.  Just south of El Zorrillo we hit a road federal police road block.  Matt and Alejandro talked to the officers and after insisting, they allowed us to pass.  As we traveled south, there was lots of evidence of storm damage along the way.
When we arrived at the bridge into San Vicente, we began to see the extent of the damage.  There was a large section that had been washed away and it was completely impassible.  The only way across was horseback or to walk.
The mechanics had just crossed the river on foot before we arrived.  We were glad to see them and they were excited to see us.  We loaded them in the van and drove them back to Ensenada where they were able to get something to eat, get cleaned up, and head to San Diego to catch their flight home.  We determined that we needed to go back that afternoon and take emergency food and water to those that we heard were in need.  So we stopped at Costco to pick up some essentials and then headed back south.  When we arrived, we loaded all of the supplies into backpacks, walked across the river and then up to the church.
After unloading the supplies at the church and inspecting the washed out vans, we quickly went back across the river before it got dark.