A severe storm Saturday night forced authorities to temporarily close the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, the busiest U.S.-Mexico commercial crossing in the nation.
The storm collapsed the roof of the Mexican commercial customs facility in Nuevo Laredo, directly across the border from Laredo.
The closure hampered trucks hauling imported goods into the U.S. on Sunday and caused long delays for cargo transporters, Mexican officials said.
“As a result of the heavy rains that occurred at night in the municipality of Nuevo Laredo, at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, the roof that was under construction in the import area of the Nuevo Laredo Customs collapsed completely, which affects the modulation of merchandise,” Mexico’s National Customs Agency (ANAM) tweeted.
Northbound and southbound cargo trucks that would normally cross the border at the World Trade Bridge were diverted to Laredo’s Colombia Solidarity International Bridge, about 19 miles west of the city.
The storm, which brought 4 inches of rain and produced winds of 80 mph, was blamed for one death in Nuevo Laredo, Mexican authorities said. The World Trade Bridge processes 8,000 to 12,000 cargo vehicles per day.
Authorities on both sides of the border said the World Trade Bridge was open for business by Monday morning. Officials in Mexico were able to clear the debris from the bridge Sunday and set up new booths to process cargo trucks heading north in the U.S.
“The World Trade Bridge is open for northbound and Southbound traffic from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today,” Armando Taboada, assistant director of field operations at the Laredo Field Office, said in an email to trade stakeholders. “The Colombia Solidarity Bridge will only process empties and informal entries today northbound due to Mexico Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México (ANAM) being closed (Mexico Holiday).”
Cargo truck traffic at the World Trade Bridge and Colombia Solidarity International Bridge was expected to be minimal on Monday, as Sept. 16 is a national holiday in Mexico.
