American and Mexican cities sign emergency response coop agreements | 06.27.2007 | 09:59:53 | Views: 5768 | ID: June 27 '07: In El Paso, the Associated Press reported that an emergency response and cooperation agreement has been signed by mayors on both sides of the American and Mexican borders. The new agreement among mayors from El Paso, Sunland Park, N.M., and Juarez, Mexico will coordinated police, fire and rescue operations. The announcement on Monday of the agreement came as torrential rains and heavy rains battered Texas and parts of Oklahoma with about 18 inches in about 12 hours. Rescue operations using helicopters were stalled because of high winds while residents near Austin had to climb onto their roofs to escape the flooding. Also, emergency services in El Paso also said that the record heat in the area was making response services difficult, the El Paso times reported. The agreement between the three cities marks the 14th time that such an agreement has been made between communities on either side of the southern border according to the Environmental Protection Agency. El Paso Mayor John Cook told the AP, "It's great that [Juarez] Mayor Murguia and I have this personal relationship, but we have to institutionalize the relationships between the two communities and three communities. ... That's what this is really all about."
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