“Tx Dept. of Emergency Management and Eagle Pass Police Chief Amy Gonzalez have confirmed over 100 buoys are floating downstream from (the) Quemado area on the Rio Grande and are headed into town,” said state Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., D-Eagle Pass, in a Facebook post just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 16.
“This has prompted the closure of both International Bridges,” Morales further said. The bridges were reopened after midnight.
Meanwhile, additional buoys and other equipment that had been staged beneath the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras International Bridge at Shelby Park — the 47-acre municipal park in Eagle Pass that once served as a temporary processing center for undocumented migrants — have since been relocated.
“We have confirmation that the shipping containers, round buoys in the water, and temporary fence structures have been moved from Shelby Park. However, the Federal Government staged the cylinder buoys in the park and personnel are working to remove those,” Morales said.
Late last night, Laredo officials announced they were monitoring the situation in case the buoys continued to flow downstream toward one of the largest cities on the border and its six international bridges.
“Our Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Police Department, and other partner agencies remain in constant communication and are prepared to response as conditions evolve,” Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor D. Trevino said in a statement shortly before midnight.
MySA reached out to the City of Laredo and DHS for updated information on the buoys. Laredo officials said the buoys had not arrived in the city as of 10:30 a.m. DHS did not respond by the time of publication.